


The Stars In Your Eyes

by Sterekhaleyes



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Derek Hale Deserves Nice Things, Everyone Is Alive, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Magic, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Multi, Single Parent Derek Hale, Swearing, Writer Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2021-04-04
Packaged: 2021-04-22 12:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22174189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sterekhaleyes/pseuds/Sterekhaleyes
Summary: A lot had happen in the three years Stiles was away.The guy who he had a serious crush on now has a 2 year-old-daughter, all his friends have begun to dating each other, and a source of dark magic was about to be unleashed onto Beacon Hills.Stiles was beginning to think he should of never left in the first place.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 203





	1. It's So Strange

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little reminder, I am currently still studying so writing two books on top of it will be hard work so I'm sorry if I'm like inactive for months *hides*
> 
> I have only written this as I couldn't get this idea out of my head and I'm pretty proud not going to lie.
> 
> Thank you for reading <3

_"We would be together and have our books and at night be warm in bed together with the window open and the stars bright."_

**\- Ernest Hemingway **

* * *

He has finally finished university.

After 3 long, long years spent at Manchester University, he was on the plane back to California: back home. And least to say, he was absolutely buzzing. Being in a city bored him; he had missed the forests, the greenery, the way he could actually use his magic... his family and friends. 

It wasn't like he could afford to fly over to Beacon Hills at the end of every term - they weren't like American term dates, and somehow they were so much more expensive - so his dad flew over every so often, but the others he had only kept in contact with through phone calls, facetime and texts. He couldn't wait to see everyone again. He couldn't wait to see his beloved Jeep again. 

Now he was returning home with a degree in English Literature, a book about to be released, a suitcase that weighed a _ton _and the sarcasm he had originally left with. That was all he needed.

Once he had grabbed his suitcase from the luggage area, he went off on a search for his dad who had promised to pick him up from the airport. It didn't take him long to see the man sat on one of the chairs, and it didn't take Noah long to see his son jog up towards him. 

He stood up with a bright smile and open his arms, "You don't know how much I have missed you, kid." 

Stiles immediately engulfed him into a hug, "I have missed you too, Dad."

They released each other and started striding towards the Cruiser, Stiles quickly back to his normal ways: talking the buckle end off the Sheriff. Once everything was in the car, they set off for their one-hour journey back home.

Too much of his dad's disapproval, Stiles immediately changed the radio station once he was buckled into the car to something more pop like. After he was comfortable with the music, the questions started pouring.

"How's the diet going?" He asked.

"Eh." Noah shrugged.

"Eh? Dad they better not be piles of bacon and cans of beer lining that fridge when I get home."

Noah rolled his eyes, "What? It's not like your diet was 100% when you were at university."

"Touché." Stiles huffed and sank down in his chair. "Roscoe hasn't given you any problems, has she?"

"She hasn't move since I let Lydia borrow her - don't give me that look - 5 months ago when her car broke down, and she seemed find then." 

"If it was anyone else other than Lydia or Erica, I would have gone mental." Stiles pointed out.

"I know, that's why I didn't let Isaac or Scott use it when they asked."

"I knew you I could trust you to keep my baby safe," Stiles smiled at his dad, who gave him a weird look through the corner if his eye.

"She's a car."

"And? She's my pride and joy." Stiles said as a matter of fact. "Anyway, how's the pack?"

Noah stayed silent for a couple of seconds, making Stiles narrow his eyes. "They're.. okay."

Stiles sat up, "What do you mean, 'they're okay'?"

"You'll just have to see for yourself." Noah mumbled.

"You're worrying me, dad."

He glanced at Stiles who had his eyebrows raised. "It's nothing to worry about, Stiles. It will just be a bit strange when you get back."

He stayed silent and trained his eyes out of the car window. All he could think about was what _the hell_ was he coming back to?

* * *

Once they were at home and Stiles had dumped all his stuff in his room, he said goodbye to his dad and hopped into his beloved jeep. He drove to the one and only Cafe in Beacon Hills, 'Break Away', recently opened by the Hales. Yes, you read correctly, the Hales.

Stiles had never actually been to the cafe before seen as though it opened when he was away, however he knew who worked when as Erica gave him a very detailed description of the rotas.

She wasn't working with Boyd, _no_, she instead was working with Jackson – to say the least, she was not happy about it. You could tell by the colourful language she spoke over facetime.

When he pulled up outside the cafe and hopped out of the car, he looked over the pristine shop. It had specifically laid out decorations in the windowsills and a chalkboard in the window with the menu on; it looked really pretty.

He opened the glass door at the front of the Café and a bell rang. He didn't get chance to admire the inside for too long because someone yelled his name behind the counter, "Stiles!" 

Stiles grinned at the girl who came running towards him, "Stiles!" 

"Erica!" He picked her up and span her around, giggling like little school children. He put her down and she stepped back one, a giddy smile on her face. “How are you?”

“Brilliant now you’re here.” She squealed. "You look so hot!" She gestured towards the whole of him, and Stiles gave her a funny look.

"I literally look the same." Stiles tried pointing out, but Erica shushed him.

"No you do not!" Erica stopped him. "You've grown up and somehow your features look sharper."

"_Sharper_?"

"Definitely," She nodded. "You look like you could be on the front cover of Vogue."

"Maybe you're taking it a bit too far." A deep voice spoke from the other side of the counter.

Stiles turned on his heel and smirked at Jackson, "What you on about, I could be on the front cover of Vouge any day."

“Yep,” Erica agreed. “He has grown up a lot, wait till everyone sees him.”

He was sure he heard Jackson mumble, "_He's going to give Derek a heart attack._" But he brushed it off as a misunderstanding.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Stiles asked, giving her a questioning look.

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” She said, turning her head towards Jackson. “Awh, Jackson, you’re not the hot shot of town anymore.”

"Whatever Reyes." He said, turning around to stride back into the back room.

Stiles turned back around to Erica, who was smiling sheepishly, "I know that look anywhere Erica. What are you not telling me?"

"Nothing at all." Erica said quickly. If it was one thing Stiles knew it was when his best friend was lying straight to his face.

"Are you going to tell me, or am I going to be left in the blue?" He questioned, his anxiety raising with every second.

"It's nothing, honest-"

She was cut off by a little girls voice, which appeared from behind the counter, "Auntie Erica?" 

Stiles head span around to the little girl who was waddling her way around the counter. She stood still when she saw Stiles bewildered stare, then ran up to Erica who easily picked her up.

Jackson chose that time to come running, looking slightly nervous, "You had one job!" Erica hissed, directing her words to Jackson who gulped.

Stiles kept looking at the girl, and the girl kept looking back at him with the same curiosity. She must had been 2, 3 at the most. She wore a blue short sleeve t-shirt, black leggings and pink shoes, her eyes and shoulder length hair both light brown.

"Are any of you going to tell me what is going on?" Stiles asked calmly, smiling slightly at the child when she smiled at him.

"It's a long story." Erica said, bouncing the child lightly in her arms.

Stiles looked at his watch: 2:35pm. "I have the rest of the day Erica."

All of a sudden, another pair of footstep came clattering behind Stiles, "Oh my god." Stiles turned his head to Cora, who had her hand over her mouth, looking more shocked than he did.

"Auntie Cora!" The girl giggled, oblivious to the situation unfolding in front of her.

"Hey Stiles, you’re looking good." Cora whispered nervously. She took a shaky breath, moving to pick the girl up off Erica. "Hey Harley, I thought I told you to stay in the back room?"

The girl glanced at Stiles then back at Cora, "But I thought I heard daddy." 

"You know he's doing some work at home," Cora said softly, "but we can go interrupt him if you want? He won't mind."

She smiled and nodded her head, "Okay." She then turned back to Stiles, "Who's that?” All eyes shot to him like he was someone they had never seen before, making him feel personally attacked.

Stiles raised his eyebrows at Cora, who sighed, "Harley, that's Stiles," she then smiled apologetically at him. "Stiles, this is Harley Hale. Derek's daughter."

And that's when Stiles had to sit down to save himself from collapsing.

* * *

"We're sorry."  
  
"It's fine Erica."

"Your heartbeat says otherwise."

"I'm fine." Stiles pushed, swirling his coffee around in the cup in front of him. Cora had left 5 minutes before Erica came and sat with him, sliding his favourite vanilla latte drink at him just to make him smile. "I just don't get why you didn't tell me."

"Harley isn't my daughter, Stiles," Erica explained. "I really wanted to tell you, like straight away after we all found out... I would have told you, but he wouldn't let me."

Stiles looked up sharply, furrowing his eyebrows, "Seriously?" Stiles sounded hurt; what had he done wrong to not deserve to hear that Derek, of all people, had a daughter? 

"His reason was that he didn't want to disturb you at Uni." She told him, sipping on her coffee.

"That’s a shit excuse." He mumbled, staring back down at his coffee cup.

"Tell me about it," Erica said. She reached across the table and grabbed Stiles hand delicately. She knew her best friend was upset, even though he refused to show it; she actually often used to compare him to Derek, but he didn't need to know that, "You know I would have told you if I was allowed?" 

Stiles gave her a reassuring smile, "I know, and I'm not mad that no one told me, I'm just finding it... strange." Just like his dad said.

"I get you." Erica took her hands out of Stiles' and wrapped them around her coffee mug. "We all thought it was strange when she showed up in a basket on the doorstep." 

Stiles raised his eyebrows, sounding even more confused. "Wait, what?"

Erica slapped a hand over her mouth, "I shouldn't have said that."

"Well don't say anything then." Jackson said, coming to sit beside Erica. He was still worrying about what was going to happen when he next saw his Alpha. "We're probably already in big shit, Erica."

"Don't you think I know that?" She snapped, wiping a hand across her face.

Jackson turned to Stiles, "I'm sorry you had to find out that way."

He was a little taken back by Jackson's apology, "It's fine, honestly. As long as someone tells me later what's going on, I'll be splendid." He then looked around at the empty shop. "Have you closed or something?"

"I closed it," Jackson said, "just because of what happened. Don't want strangers messing around in our business."

"That's very true."

"Anyway, enough children talk," Erica quickly changed the subject so she wouldn't blurt out any more information; "How's the book?" 

"It's actually all ready to be published," He said, embarrassed a little. He wasn’t used to the pack asking about his book, or talking to Jackson in a civilised conversation to be quite frank. "I sent you all a manuscript, didn't I?"

“Yeah,” Erica said, “we all have read it, and it’s brilliant. Aria is an absolute badass, how she saves Elliot blew me away. What happened to Lara though…”

“She cried.” Jackson smirked from beside her.

“I did not!” She retaliated, hitting him on the arm.

“Don’t worry,” Stiles said, “I cried writing it. Wasn’t the easiest of partings.”

“I tell you someone who loved it more than any of us,” Jackson paused, then smiled slyly. “Derek.”

Stiles half smiled, “Really?”

Erica hummed, “He basically refused to give the manuscript back to me when I asked.”

“_’I’m reading it again._’” Jackson mocked Derek causing Stiles to huff out a little laugh.

“It was really weird.” Erica stated, resting her chin in her hands.

“That’s Derek for you.” Stiles said, leaning back in his chair. And just when Stiles thought things were alreadt odd, things somehow just got odder. But that was Beacon Hills for you, right?

* * *

Derek heard Harley before he saw her. He heard her little footsteps tap against the wooden floor and her giggles echo down the corridor towards his office; a sound he would never, ever get used to, but loved every second of. She changed his life the second she came into it, and he wouldn’t change her for the world.

However, he did like his peace and quiet every once in a while so hearing her home 2 hours early only meant there was an emergency.

The door of his office creaked open, making Derek look up from his paperwork. Harley bounced in with the same enthusiastic energy she always had, "Daddy!"

Derek stood up with a smile and picked up the little girl, "Hey sweetheart, I thought you were spending the day with Auntie Cora?"

She nodded, "I was, but then… but then we were at the café with Jack-Jack and Erica and I heard a man-boy talking to them. Auntie Erica sounded very excited, so I made up an excuse to see what was going on,” She then beamed. “Now, I think I had a new friend.”

Derek furrowed his eyebrows, "Who’s your new friend Harls?"

"His name was St...St...Stiles!" She said with much excitement.

So that was the emergency.

Derek tensed, "That sounds wonderful, I’m sure he will be your friend.” He then lowed Harley to the floor, plastering a smile on his face to not worry her, “Why don’t you go and play with your toys while I go and talk to Cora, okay? Then I’ll make you some lunch?”

“Tuna salad in triangles?” She asked hopefully. He nodded and she gave him a quick hug in response, running out of the office towards the living room. Derek stood up and took a deep breath, striding out of the room towards where Cora usually was when she was stressing.

He had forgotten Stiles was due back today. _Fuck_, he is going to be so pissed at him.

Stiles knew nothing about Harley. Derek had planned to tell Stiles himself about her - not the rest of the pack. The last thing he wanted was Stiles to hate him for not telling him: things were just complicated.

Cora was pacing up and down the porch when Derek found her, her features softening at her brother once she saw him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know he was there."

"What did he do." Derek said sternly, keeping his voice low so Harley wouldn't hear.

"He was shocked," She started. "Very shocked. He didn't understand why no one told him, he just kind of froze. So, urm, yeah?"

Derek rubbed his eyes, "He's going to hate me." He muttered, clenching his jaw.

"No he won’t," Cora sighed, talking a step closer to her brother. “Just explain everything to him.”

He looked up sharply, "That's what I plan on doing, there is no other way." 

"Look, I'm really sorry," Cora frowned. "If I had of known that he was going to be their today, I wouldn't have taken her there."

"I know, I know." He sighed, taking in the fact that Stiles is back and the first thing he is going to say to him is '_I'm sorry I had a child, well she really isn’t mine, but we don’t talk about that, and didn’t tell you_.'

"I'll get Erica to text you when he has gone home," Cora said, patting him on the shoulder, "then you can go and explain, okay? The sooner he knows the truth, the better it will be for both of you. Plus, he won't have time to overthink everything."

"Alright." He huffed, knowing his sister was telling the truth.  
  
"Good.” Cora said, heading toward the front door. “Now go and get that work done and I'll keep the munchkin entertained."

“Make her lunch too.” Derek walked after her. “Tuna-”

“-Salad sandwiches in triangles,” Cora smirked. “I know what my niece’s favourite food is Derek, stop worrying.” Derek rolled his eyes and turned away from her, wandering back to his office.

The thing was, Derek couldn't work knowing that he was about to tell Stiles, who he hadn't seen in 3 years, that he now had a child. He wasn’t ready for the bombardment of questions he was going to ask, or telling him to be quite frank. And, what he feared most was what Stiles was going to say about her real parents; and to be quite honest, Derek didn’t even know what to say to that either.

* * *

It was 5pm when Stiles finally arrived at home for the Café. He slouched down in the chair in his Jeep and closed his eyes, the past 3 hours flooding back to him. Whoever said his life wasn’t hectic were obviously lying. More has happened to him in the last 3 hours than the last 3 years.

His dad wasn’t home, which was expected as being the Sheriff took up most of his time. So, he pulled himself out of the car and shoved his keys into the front door, pushing it open and closing it behind him. He used his magic to turn the kettle on whilst he grabbed his laptop from the living room so it would at least be half boiled by the time he walked into the kitchen. Once it had, he poured himself a strong coffee and wandered up the stairs to his room. He placed his coffee and laptop on his desk then flopped onto his bed, exhausted – the jet lag was killing him.

But he had work and finalisations to do, so he gulped down half of his coffee and sat at his desk, typing important emails and data so his book could finally be published by the end of the week. It was about bloody time too; he finished writing 2 months ago but due to him wanting to publish it with an American company, it had taken longer to send everything over. But, if the people he loved liked it and if it made him enough money so he could get out of his dads hair and move out, it was worth the stress.

Half an hour later - whilst he was deep into his work - his window suddenly slid up and a figure jumped through in a blur, scaring the monkey’s out of Stiles. It was that scary that his magic went on full protection mode and he fell off his chair, throwing the closest thing (which happened to be a book) at the figure, “Stiles! It’s only me.”

Once Stiles heard the voice, his nerves slightly calm down and he pushed himself up off the floor. He glared at Derek, “It’s been 3 years since the last person did that Derek! I have the right to be scared.”

“Sorry.” He mumbled, crossing his arms and leaning back on the wall. This wasn’t how he imagined seeing Stiles again. He also didn’t imagine Stiles looking like _that_; the time away had done him wonders, in more ways than one.

Stiles exhaled and fell onto his bed, sitting crossed legged. “It’s okay, I’m kinda getting used to surprises now-a-days.”

Derek gulped, “I’m sorry about that too,” He then sighed, letting his arms fall by the side of him. “Look, you had literally just arrived in Manchester and I didn’t want to tell you as I knew you would hop on a plane back and miss the start of the term.”

Stiles thought about it for a few seconds, knowing what he said was true. “I could have said I wasn’t well enough to get a plane from America.”

“Don’t start making up excuses Stiles, nothing would have worked.”

Stiles patted the spot beside him on the bed, tilting his head to the side to gesture to Derek to sit beside him. Derek hesitantly pushed himself off the wall and sat beside Stiles, “We can’t go back in time, so there is nothing either us can do that can change the past,” Stiles said, “so tell me everything that happened, and we’ll forget that you never told me in first place.”

Derek nodded, and started his story, “It was the 4th of September...

“_“I want Stiles back; life is too boring now.”_ Erica was complaining that she was missing you - like she had done for the previous 2 days - and, as usual, Jackson was being his snarky self, _“It’s now quiet, be grateful he is not bouncing off the walls anymore.”_ It was their daily argument. I was blanking them out, reading in the living room, when the doorbell went. Cora popped around the corner, _“I didn’t think we had any visitors,”_ eyeing the front door. So I got up and went to answer it.

“There was no one there, but when I looked down, there was a basket covered up on the doorstep. I crouched down and pulled the sheet back, and there lay a little baby. Cora appeared over my shoulder,_ “Is that… a baby?”_ I couldn’t say anything: who leaves a random baby and runs? _“Did someone say baby?”_ I didn't really register what anyone else said, I was too astonished. Cora crouched beside me and picked the baby out of the basket, carefully cradling them in her arms. A note was at the bottom of the basket, and I reached down and picked it up.

“It read along the lines of, _‘I’m sorry, I cannot look after her. You're family is the only way she is going to be safe.’_ Signed I.R. I obviously wasn't going to leave her outside, so I hurried everyone back inside and called your father immediately. When he turned up, he instantly got on his database to find the person with the initials I.R but there was no one.

"When Cora passed her to me in a quick hurry, I didn't really know that to do. I had never held a baby before that - or dealt with one - but she lay sound asleep in my arms without a murmur. It was then when I decided that I wouldn't let her go. I couldn't, not because she was some sort of supernatural being, because some random person had already abandoned her... and I couldn't do that to her.

"And that's when, once all the social services things were sorted and much debating, she became Harley Talia Hale." He finished, a little smile making its way onto him face.

Stiles smiled softly, "That's adorable," He pretended to wipe some tears from under his eyes. "All is forgiven."

Derek rolled his eyes, but his smile still lingered, "Good, because she came home telling me that you're her new friend."

Stiles put a hand of his heart, "Can she get any sweeter?"

"Surprisingly," Derek said, "yes."

"Who has she got that from?" Stiles pointed out. "You're all maniacs."

Derek raised his eyebrows at his comment, "Apparently children change you." 

Stiles hummed, then got back onto the situation, "So you never found her real parents?" Derek shook his head. "And do you know what kind of supernatural creature she is?"

"I always presumed werewolf," Derek stated, "but we have had no way of telling what she really is. Not till she is 3 anyway."

Stiles smiled smugly, "Not till now."

Derek looked confused for a second, then his eyes slightly widened, "Wait, so your saying you can..?"

"Scan her vitals, genetics and have a sense of what she actually is?" Stiles said as a matter of fact. "Yes. Yes I can."

"Is it safe?" He questioned, just for precaution.

Stiles gave him a deadpan look, "I won't put her through any harm, Derek. I wouldn't dare it."

"I know, I know." Derek sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Tomorrow?"

"Wait, what?" Stiles asked a tad confused.

"Come around to the house tomorrow," Derek replied. "No one is in work, and then you can see Harley _properly. _I also know everyone has missed you, a lot." _Including himself._

"Okay," Stiles grinned. "11am?"

"Yeah," He agreed, "and I'll make sure the house isn't a state."

"Good," Stiles said, "or I'll go into my cleaning mode and I do not want that to happen." He shuddered, causing Derek to huff out a slight laugh.

There was then a knock at his door, "Stiles?"

"Yeah?" He shouted back, eyeing the door warily.

"Dinners ready in 5." His dad murmured back. 

Derek stood up off the bed, and so did Stiles, and pushed his hands inside the pockets in his leather jacket, "I better go then."

The door of his room swung open "Use the front door please." Noah said. "Every time you jump out that window it scares me to hell and back."

"Will do." Derek smiled, making his way out of the room, Stiles in tow. Once they were downstairs, Noah made a bee line for the kitchen whilst Stiles and Derek stepped towards the door. 

Stiles opened the front door for him, "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" He said as Derek wandered past him.

Derek turned around and nodded, "I'll be waiting."

Stiles leaned against the doorway and smiled, "Oh, by the way, I missed you too." He thought he would just throw that in the clock work, you know, _casually_.

Derek just looked down at the floor, then looked up and smiled back at him, "You know me too well."

Stiles shrugged, "The power of being extremely observant."

Derek walked back a couple of steps, "See you later Stiles." He then turned on his heel and strode back to his car.

Stiles exhaled and watched at the car sped down the road. He shut the door and shuffled into the kitchen, plonking himself down at the dinner table.

"You say strange," he said, catching his dad's attention, "but I really think that it's miracle."

"What do you mean?" Noah inquired, sliding the meal in front of Stiles.

"That child could have ended up anywhere," Stiles started, "with someone who didn't know the supernatural. I think she is very lucky to be surrounded by the people she has now - with a loving family that will care and cherish her till the end."

Noah wondered where all this had come from, yet smiled when his son looked up towards him;

"Sometimes miracles are just kind people with good hearts." And with that, he started eating, finally after 3 years away from home. Least to say, he was not going anywhere any time soon.


	2. Lilura's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pack finally discover what Harley really is, but is she an werewolf or something completely different?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have just come to the conclusion that this book is going to be very long, so I'm sorry already :/

_"She was, in fact, a child of the moon. Wandering around aimlessly, in the dark. Bringing _ _light to everyone around her."_

**\- Unknown **

* * *

He couldn't tell if it was screams or yelling. All he could tell that they were agonizing screams of fear, terrified yells that bounced off the bare walls towards the open meeting room.

It was music to his ears.

A tall boy scurried into the room, his neon green eyes brightening the place up, "Sir? Do you want to see her?"

The man sat forward in his chair. He grinned, not in a friendly way but in a way that his pointed teeth showed aggression, danger, a warning to anyone who dared to set their eyes on him, "Of course."

The boy gave a small nod of the head and scurried back out. A few seconds later, two more people entered wearing matching floor length black jacket. But what caught the man's eye was the woman who strolled in leisurely between the two, looking around at the bare black walls. She stopped at the end of the table and gave a sinister smiled, "Well, well look who it is."

The man sat up straighter, the grin not shifting from his face, "I've been anxious for your arrival."

"The welcome could have been a bit more, how do I say this, _welcoming,_" She drummed her fingers across the top of one of the chairs, "but we don't need to talk about that."

The man clicked his fingers and a piece of paper appeared in his hands. He pushed it through the air towards her and she caught it easily. She glanced at the number on the paper; she then set it on fire, burning within seconds, "I told you," she said slowly, "I would work for free."

"I do recall," He pushed the chair out from beside him, "Shall we start then, Julia Baccari?"

She hummed and made her way around to him, "Jennifer, call me Jennifer Blake." She took a seat beside him.

"Very well, Jennifer," The man leaned forward in curiosity, "Tell me everything you know about the Hales."

* * *

Once 10:30am came around, Stiles hopped into Roscoe and began his drive to the Hale house. He gave himself 30 minutes to drive there just in case he suddenly forgot where he was going; but that wasn't going to happen... _hopefully_. When he found the entrance to the Preserve he jumped for joy, (internally, whilst still seated), and began the drive down the bumpy track to the Hale house.

When he arrived at the huge house, he parked beside the Porsche that stood beside the Camaro and a few other cars. He opened the car door and smiled at the familiarity of the house. He made his way towards the front door, but he didn't even make it to the porch before he was ambushed.

The front door swung open, "Stiles!" He smiled at Lydia as she ran and flung herself on him. "I have missed you." Cora 

"I've missed you more." He responded. The evidence that he had a crush on her years ago had gone, and that weird awkwardness had disappeared with it too. Stiles actually couldn't think of a life without Lydia Martin anymore.

"Please," She scoffed. "I can now talk complicated things without someone saying '_English_?'" 

He was so engaged with talking to Lydia that he didn't realise that Isaac and Cora had gathered on the porch. He glanced upwards and laughed, "Oh, what a beautiful sight."

"You gotta admit though," it was Isaac, who still had his fluffy curly hair, "you have missed this sight."

"More than you know Isaac," Stiles said.

Isaac rushed down the porch to greet Stiles, giving him a hug, "Jesus Isaac," Stiles breathed, "what have you been eating? You won't be able to get under the doorway in the next few months."

Isaac smirked and shrugged. He had a good half a foot on Stiles now, easily the tallest out of them all.

When Cora wandered up to him, she pulled him into an immediate hug. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

Stiles sighed, "It's no one's fault, Cora. You don't have to say that."

She pulled back and smiled slightly, "I do." She then reached up and ruffled his hair like a child.

"Hey!" Stiles hands went to his hair. "You didn't need to do that." She just laughed, and grabbed his hand, dragging him into the house.

She let go of his hand and she, Lydia and Isaac wandered up the stairs, leaving him in the living room. The house looked a lot more homely when he stepped inside, the walls were lined with photo after photo, painted and wallpapered. It was... nice.

"Do you want a drink?" A voice caught his attention, making him look towards the arch way between the living room and kitchen. Derek was stood looking at him, raising his eyebrows at Stiles who was smiling to himself at how much the house had changed.

"No thanks," Stiles said.

A little figure then appeared by Derek, patting his leg. They both looked down at Harley, who gave a curious look between her dad and Stiles.

"What's up Harls?" Derek asked. Stiles watched from the other side of the room, a small sense of admiration bubbling inside of him.

"Is that Stiles?" She said quietly. Stiles was quite astonished that Harley had remember his name seen as though she had only heard it once.

Derek nodded, "Yeah." He looked at Stiles, who was looking straight back at him. He saw the fondness on Stiles' face, which made him smile internally. "Do you want go and say hi? He won't mind."

The girl bounced up and down, nodding her head eagerly. She hurried towards Stiles, who crouched down to Harleys height, sticking her hand out for him to shake. Stiles huffed out a little laugh and shook it back, "I'm Harley."

"And I'm Stiles." He said back, giving the girl a big smile.

She laughed, "That's a weird name."

"Harley!" Derek shouted, not expecting his daughter to say that.

Stiles raised his eyebrows, "If you think that's weird, you should hear my real name."

"Can you tell me?" Harley asked in excitement.

"Sadly, I cannot," Stiles smiled, "but I'll tell you when your dad isn't here. He doesn't know it, yet."

Harley turned around to her dad, "Daddy, can you leave?" Stiles laughed at that, causing Derek to roll his eyes but smile.

"How about I tell you later?" Stiles comprised with her. She narrowed her eyes but nodded. 

"Can I ask you a question?" She said.

"Of course."

"Are you a werewolf too?" Harley inquired.

Stiles paused, looking up towards Derek who was also intrigued in how Stiles was going to answer. He looked back her, "No, I'm a Warlock."

The excitement came back into her eyes, "A Warlock? Can you do magic?"

"Oh yeah," His eyes flashed blue, then went back to normal. "Do you want see?"

"Yeah!" She jumped up and down.

"What's your favourite animal?" He asked.

"Urm, a Koala."

Stiles smiled at her unique choice, his eyes springing back into a blazing blue. Harley face formed into something like wonderment whilst Derek leant against the wall, smiling at how well the two were getting on. Derek had to admit that he had missed Stiles and his magic: his eyes were beautiful.

Stiles held his palm out, his thoughts focused on a koala. Suddenly, a bright blue outline of a koala lite up on his hand: animated too. It sat on his hand eating eucalyptus leaves, looking around like it was actually there.

Harley gasped, Derek looked at his hand in bewilderment, "Cool!" She exclaimed. She turned around to Derek. "Wasn't that amazing, daddy!"

"It's... amazing." Derek was speechless. That he had hadn't missed; the way he was almost speechless every time Stiles did some impressive magic.

Harley gleamed at Stiles, "Can I see more?"

"Later on, okay?" Stiles promised, standing back up. "I need to talk to your Dad first, then we can play around." She ran into him, knocking him a tad of balance, hugging his legs. Stiles smiled down at her, his eyes softening.

"Why don't you go to Isaac and ask him to play whilst we talk?" Derek said to Harley. She nodded and wandered away, her light footsteps treading up the stairs.

Stiles turned to Derek and sighed, "I don't think I have ever met a nicer girl."

"She is one of a kind." Derek said, walking back into the kitchen. Stiles followed him, staying in the doorway whilst Derek went to grab a bottle of water from the fridge, He turned his look back on Stiles, "So, what's the plan?"

* * *

"So you need her asleep," Derek said, "and lay on a flat surface?"

"Yeah," Stiles agreed. "Preferably I would like her to go sleep by herself, then me put the sleeping spell on her so I don't scare her."

"Okay," Derek pushed himself of the counter and made his way into the living room, Stiles in tow. "We just need to somehow get her to sleep. She has barely been able to sle-" Derek stopped when he saw Isaac stood in the doorway, a sleeping Harley in his arms. "Never mind." 

Stiles grabbed a blanket and a pillow off the back of one of the couches and strode into the dining room across the hallway. He lay the blanket down across the table, then put the pillow down for her head. He wasn't monster, he didn't want the child to be uncomfortable, "You can lie her on here." 

Isaac came in and carefully put her down. Stiles could feel the nerves radiating off Derek from the other side of the room, "Come here." Stiles said towards Derek, who hesitated but made his way over to Stiles. He pulled a chair out from beside Stiles. "You can hold her hand whilst I do some of it, if that makes you feel better?"

"Yeah." Derek said quietly, holding his daughter's hand. Stiles took one long glance at Derek, his eyes softening: he honestly loved this child to pieces.

Isaac idled in the doorway, silently watching. Stiles didn't mind, as long as he didn't make any noise or distract him.

Stiles rubbed his hands together, sparking his magic. He reached over and touched Harleys forehead, little blue sparks around his hand, and said, "Somnus." _Sleep_.

The girl visible relaxed, her heartrate steady. Stiles turned to Derek, “You can let go of her now.” He wavered, but let go of Harley's hand and stood up, patting Stiles’ shoulder as he went past him. He stood beside Isaac, close to his Beta for comfort.

Stiles' hands were immediately engulfed in blue magic. He closed his eyes and drifted his hands across the girls body, whispering to himself, “Ostende mihi ispe tibi.” _Show me the real you_. It only took him 10 seconds to get some sort of signal.

This some sort of signal wasn’t normal too.

Within the body, he felt a slither of wolf; yet it was barely anything, which surprised him. He dropped his hands to hover her head and chest, confused about the signal he was getting. The message was still being blocked, like someone had put that block there on purpose. He lightly touched her forehead again, but his magic strengthening by the second. Then he shook, suddenly and sharply.

_Fuck_.

Stiles opened his eyes, his hands and eyes turning back to normal. He looked up to Derek, who had now been joined by Lydia and Cora, “Sit her up.” He told Derek, who came rushing over. He pushed her into a siting position, Cora holding her head up. “Does she have any unique marks across her body?” He asked.

Derek nodded, “Yeah, there’s some mark at the base of head, why?” Stiles didn’t answer him, just delicately pushed Harleys hair up to reveal the base of her head.

And that’s where a unique mark was stained on her skin. It was the faint outline of two arrows crossing over each other, sending shivers through him. “What is it, Stiles?” Derek asked, getting a tad impatient. 

“Look,” Stiles pointed to the arrows. “Can you see two arrows?” Derek nodded. “Do you know what they mean?” 

Cora and Lydia got it before Derek did, their eyes widening. It took Derek a couple of more seconds, but when he did, he froze, “So your saying..?”

“She’s a Warlock, Derek,” Stiles answered. “And do you know what these two arrows mean?” They all shook their heads, bar Lydia who had came around to see the mark. Lydia caught his gaze, nodding like she knew what he was thinking. “Well, to enlighten you, she isn’t any old Warlock,” he paused, thinking of his next words carefully. “Derek, your daughter is related to the Lilura’s, the Kings and Queens of Enchantment.”

* * *

Everyone was confused, so Stiles told Derek to put Harley to bed so he could explain to everyone what, and who, the Lilura's are. Isaac, Lydia and Cora were seated in the living room whilst Stiles paced up and down the corridor, waiting for Derek to return. But instead, the front door opened and in came Erica, Jackson and Boyd. Scott and Allison were still at university, their courses not ending for another week.

Erica came in and hugged Stiles, taking in his nervous expression, "What's happened?" She asked. Boyd mirrored Erica's expression, whilst Jackson went over to his girlfriend, asking her what had happened.

Derek came back down the stairs, catching everyone's attention, "Harls isn't a werewolf."

"Full." Stiles corrected him even though he hadn't told any of them the full story.

Derek gave him a confused look, "What?"

Stiles just sighed, "Go and sit down and I'll tell you all at once." So they all did, eagerly waiting for Stiles to respond. He sat beside Erica and Boyd, facing them all like he was in a big meeting; and to be honest, it really was.

"Harley is a Warlock," Stiles said simply, shocking the pack members that weren't there before. "However, she still is part wolf, how much I don't know. But all I do know is that her magic side definitely overpowers her wolf."

"So what will happen to her on the full moon?" Boyd inquired.

"Well, I know she definitely won't shift," Stiles said, "but we won't know the effects of the full moon on her untill the first full moon after her 3rd birthday." Stiles paused, which he found he was doing a lot today. "When is her birthday?"

"2nd of July," Derek answered.

"Oh fiddlesticks," he mumbled. "So, in 5 days? And the full moon's in, what, 8 days? What a bloody coincidence."

"Why? What's wrong with that?" Isaac asked.

"Harls is a Lilura who are the most powerful magical beings in the world," Stiles started. "That arrow mark on the base of her head is their family symbol, and with the family being so powerful, every evil creature that is able to hurt one can gain power off them; or, if anyone can kill them, they’ll be rewarded with not just formidable abilities, but with a great deal of fame too."

"But she isn't a full-on Warlock." Cora commented.

"Yeah," Stiles agreed, "but she is still related. And for a couple of months, before someone can teach Harley to defend herself, she will be hunted down like a rabbit. All we need to do is conceal her power from the world, then maybe she will be able to have the childhood that every child deserves."

Those were the words Derek dreaded to hear. His precious, little girl hunted, like an animal. This is what he hated; the innocent and the young getting killed all for the sport... a _disgraceful sport_. Derek took a deep breath and lifted his head to look Stiles in the eye, "You'll teach her, right?"

Stiles felt an urge to go and hug the man; the sudden feeling to protect him and his daughter for the rest of his life. Stiles facial expressions softened, "I might have only been back in Beacon Hills for 18 hours, but I'd do anything for her. Of course I'll teach her, Derek."

Derek held his gaze for a couple of seconds, then let his head fall back down with a little nod.

Erica was one to break the silence, "So, what's the plan Stilinski?"

He wasn't going to lie, he had missed all this; he missed making plans, going on adventures with his friends... the way he could help people who needed it. "I need all the books and websites about the Lilura's to find who she is specifically related too," He then sighed, and looked back at Derek who was looking back up at him. "And I'm going to need that note she was left with. We're going to have to find her mother."

* * *

They didn't start immediately. He hadn't seen all of them for 3 years, so he needed a catch-up session with them. Derek stood up and left - presumably going up to Harley's room. He felt a pang of guilt and terror for him; no one wanted to be told that their daughter was going to be hunted for being who she is.

Stiles slid onto the floor, sitting in front of the 6, his eyes gliding over them all. He settled on Cora and Isaac, "You two are together, aren't you?" He questioned, their eyes going wide.

Lydia sat back, "Told you he would work it out."

"I-I, how?! We haven't even told Derek." Cora whispered harshly.

"Oh shit," Stiles smirked. "You need to tell him before he finds you kissing behind a bush whilst you're on duty."

"Stiles!" Isaac screeched, causing everyone else to laugh.

"What? I'm observant," Stiles said. "All I want to know is _why_ you all still live here? Like, I wouldn't want to be surrounded by 4 couples and be single too."

"We couldn't leave him with a baby," Erica pointed out.

"It's a big house to be alone in too." Boyd said.

He hummed, "That's a good point."

"What about your love life?" Cora wiggled her eyebrows at him.

"What love life?" Stiles said.

"I should of expected that." Jackson commented earning a tut off his girlfriend.

"Ignore him," Lydia said, glaring at Jackson. "What do you mean anyway, you have definitely grown up. England has done you good."

"See, I wasn't the only one to notice." Erica said crossing her arms.

"I literally look the same!" The girls ignored him. They all looked at each other with a look that Stiles feared, the look that he had seen before. “No.” He said quickly, shaking his head. “I know that look anywhere.”

“What?” Erica asked innocently, “We’re not doing anything.”

“Don’t bullshit me Reyes,” Stiles narrowed his eyes at the girls. “Don’t you dare try and set me up with anyone. The right person will come when the times right.”

“That sounds so clique.” Boyd observed.

“You all weren't a set up,” Stiles said, “and look how you all turned out: absolutely fine.”

“Can we at least look around for you?” Lydia asked, sitting forward.

Stiles sighed, truly knowing he was going to let the girls do it anyway, “Okay – don’t start squealing yet – but, they have to go through me before you do anything about it. I’m telling you now, you won’t find anyone.”

Cora smirked, “Oh Stiles, you underestimate us.”

“Wait till Allison gets back,” Lydia said. “Between all the four of us, we’ll get around the whole town before you know it.”

Stiles was already regretting it, “What have I got myself into?”

“Maybe we can help too,” Isaac grinned, looking at the other guys.

“Yes!” The girls yelled as Stiles shouted, “No!”

“Sounds like a great plan.” Jackson sniggered. Boyd hadn’t say anything, but it was easy to tell that he was enjoying this.

Stiles pushed himself of the floor, glaring at them all, “I might have been gone for three years, but that doesn’t mean you can all gang up on me for being single,” He gained composure. “Now, where’s Harley’s room?”

“1st floor, 2nd room on the left.” Cora answered, an unreadable expression on her face.

Stiles nodded once and left the room, jogging up the stairs and towards Harley’s room. The door was slightly open, but he still knocked onto it lightly to see if Derek was in there. He leant on the wall, waiting for any response, which he received after a few seconds.

The door opened slightly, revealing Derek who looked completely miserable – no, that wasn’t half as bad as what he actually looked like.

Derek came out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. His face wanted to make Stiles cry, causing his to smile sadly. When Derek finally looked at him, he could clearly see that he was hurting, "I'm going to hug you." Stiles blurted out, yet it was Derek who pulled him in first to much of Stiles' surprise.

He wrapped his arms around the taller man's neck, pulling him into a comfortable hug, "She's going to be okay." He whispered, resting his head on his shoulder.

Stiles could hear, and feel, the tremble in Derek's voice, "I can't lose her."

"You won't." Stiles reassured him.

Derek let go off him, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Can I show you something?" He asked.

Stiles nodded, then silently followed Derek up two flights of stairs to the top floor. He had walked this corridor many times before, yet it felt like the first all over again; Erica and Cora giving him the grand tour, showing him the rooms.

And they stopped in front of one of the doors. Stiles looked down at the handle, the letter 'M' hanging down from it.

Stiles scoffed, "I still can't believe you got me the 'M' instead of an 'S'."

Derek actually managed a small smile, "It's the only part of your _real name_ I know." Stiles huffed, but Derek opened the door of the room without another word.

Stiles stepped in after Derek, the breath knocked out of him when he finally looked inside the room. It hadn't changed one bit, _his room_ hadn't changed at all. His books still lined the walls, his favourite teddy (Mr. Snuggles) still rested on his pillows on his bed, his whiteboard still stood in the corner of the room, "I-I thought you would have thrown everything out."

Derek looked at him confusingly, "Why would you think that? I would never."

Stiles wandered further in, brushing a hand across the large bookcase that held numerous spell, non-fiction and fiction book, "I don't know. I was gone for a long time; anything could have happened. You could have somehow magically started hating me."

"I could never hate you." Derek said quickly. It was the truth, and all fairness, he never actually hated him in the first place. Believe it or not, Stiles annoyed the shit out of him in the earlier years, but now... he couldn't imagine his life without him.

Stiles turned to him and grinned, "I think that is the sweetest thing you have ever said to me." Derek rolled his eyes, but Stiles saw that smile hidden by his annoyed expression.

"In Manchester," Stiles started out of the blue as he sat on his bed, "I couldn't use any of my magic. I hid it away from everyone and everything. Coming back here is like a breath of fresh air... Like, I can finally be myself." He grabbed Mr. Snuggles and rested him in his lap.

Derek leant against the doorframe, giving Stiles a calculating look, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Stiles sighed, "There was this boy, Callum, who was in my class. Everyone knew he had magically abilities, so they used to get buddy buddy with him and ask him to do some unimaginable things. He was used, Derek, _used_ because he wasn't like the rest of them and he could do the things normal people couldn't. I wanted people to like me not because I had magic, but because of my real self."

Derek didn't particularly know what to say to that. Stiles, _their Stiles_, wasn't usually afraid to express himself, yet it seemed the actions of someone else could change his views pretty quickly. That was quite upsetting. So, Derek said the first thing that came to mind, "You know we wouldn't change you for anything, right?"

The sides of Stiles' mouth quirked upand, "And I wouldn't change any of you for anything either."

* * *

Stiles, Derek, Cora and Isaac were sat in the kitchen when Harley finally woke up. Stiles and Cora were sharing a tub of cookie dough ice cream, sniggering at Isaac who was struggling to work the oven to cook dinner. Derek was leant against the counter, shaking his head at the _21-year-old_ who still struggled to turn the bloody oven on.

"Daddy, I'm hungry." All their heads swirled around to Harley as she bounced into the kitchen. Stiles heard Derek breath hitch, but they all quickly went back to what they were doing so she wouldn't suspect a thing.

"Dinner will be ready soon," Derek said, his posture regained. "But Isaac can't put the oven on, so soon might be next week at this rate."

"Hey! I haven't put this thing on for months." Isaac exclaimed.

"That concerns me," Stiles said, shoving a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. "Who does all the cooking then? And don't tell me you have takeaways all the time."

“We all cook,” Cora said, gliding her spoon around in the air. “Some more than others, obviously.” 

“That’s cute.” Stiles said just as there was a tap on his leg. He looked down at the little girl with a smile.

“Is that ice cream?” Harley asked.

“Yeah,” he answered. “Want some?” She nodded immediately and Stiles reached down and picked her up, placing her on his knee. He clicked his fingers and another spoon appeared in his hand, making Harley look at him in astonishment. But not for too long as she grabbed the spoon off him and dug into the tub.

“Don’t eat too much,” Derek said, but she just hummed and carried on eating just as Isaac let out a little ‘_Yes!_’ as he had finally turned the oven on. 

Stiles phone beeped in his pocket. He sighed, “That’s my cue to go.” 

Harley paused eating, "Why?" 

"Because," he explained, "my dad has made me dinner like Isaac is attempting to make yours."

"Oh." She said quietly, dropping her spoon in the tub. "You coming back?" 

Stiles nodded, "Of course."

She beamed, "Good." She then shifted on Stiles knee and gave him a little side hug, making his heart melt. "Bye bye Stiles."

"Bye Harley."

Cora pried Harley off Stiles, giving her back her spoon to distract her. Stiles pushed himself up, saying goodbye to Isaac and Cora as he left the room.

Derek followed him out, “We’ll see you tomorrow, right?” Derek inquired as they got to the door.

Stiles grinned mischievously. “You’re not going to get rid of me anytime soon."

Derek huffed out a slight laugh, “You know you can move back in whenever you want too?”

Stiles exhaled, “I know, just… just let me adjust to everything before I come back, okay?” Derek knew what he was on about, and he would give him as long as he needed; but all he wanted was for Stiles to know that the doors were always open for him. “Right, I’ll see you later, okay? Bright and early.”

“Yeah,” Derek said, “bright and early, as usual.”

Stiles grinned and hopped down the porch steps, striding to his Jeep. He gave Derek a wave as he drove out of the house, causing Derek to smile to himself.

He went back into the house and into the kitchen where the rest of the pack were gathered around, Harley still scooping out the ice cream. The room was packed, yet it didn’t feel complete. He knew why, but admitting it was something completely different story.

He guessed he just had to wait and see what the future would bring for them, as it was safe to say, these past 24 hours had already caused a lot of change.


	3. There Is This Thing Called The Internet

_"She liked the moon because, like herself, it shined its brightest when no one was around to see."_

**\- Unknown **

* * *

Stiles woke up on the floor of his room in a weird and uncomfortable position. He doesn't particularly remember how he had fallen asleep, but he got the idea that he was in the middle of signing papers - which bored him immensely - as when he looked around, papers flooded the floor. He sighed and collected the papers, sorting them into piles of what he had read and what he had yet to read. 

Once he did, he made his way downstairs to a what he thought an empty house. However, there was voices coming from the kitchen.

He warily made his way into the room where he found Cora, Erica and Lydia sat around his dining table, chatting like it was their house, "How the hell did you get in?" Stiles caught their attention, his eyebrows raised.

"Your dad let us in." Erica said.

"We've only been here for 15 minutes." Cora pointed out.

"Plus," Lydia added, "we have important news."

Stiles exhaled, rubbing a hand over his eyes, "Great." He said sarcastically.

He poured himself a coffee, ignoring the girls chatter; If he was going to listen to their news, he needed to be fuelled for whatever they threw at him.

He lent against the counter, the coffee cup warming his hands up, "Right, go on then."

"We think we've found you a date." Erica said.

Stiles nearly chocked on his drink, "What?"

"It was actually pretty easy," Lydia ignored him, "and an obvious choice."

"This can't be happening." Stiles mumbled into his cup.

"But it is," Cora beamed. "Told you we would find someone."

Stiles couldn't believe he was hearing all this. At 8:45 in the morning. He should still be in bed; but no, it's the best time to talk about his love life apparently, "Go on then, tell me the lucky person."

The girls exchanged a look that he couldn't decipher, "When we tell you," Cora started slowly, "you promise not to kill us?"

"That doesn't fill me with hope." Stiles murmured.

"I'm just going to say it!" Erica paused. She didn't really know how to word the next sentence, so Lydia did it for her.

"It's Derek." Lydia simply said.

That's when Stiles actually spat out his coffee.

"What the fuck!" He squeaked, his voice reaching octaves that he didn't he know he could reach. 

"That went better than expected." Erica whispered to them.

Stiles ignored her, "Are you crazy?! No, please say your joking. What, why, _how?_" A million questions zoomed around his head. What had he done to make them think anything like this?

"We just saw you two yesterday and it was perfection!" Erica grinned, trying to lighten Stiles' mood: it didn't work.

"I know my brother," Cora told him, "and he looked like a lost puppy when you left. It was like you just slipped right back into his life like you never left for England."

"You should of heard him on Friday evening before he came to see you," Lydia added. "Never seen someone stress so much." She paused. "That's a lie, I have, but you get what I mean."

"And, he offered you your room back," Erica smirked. "The eager beaver."

Stiles was having trouble digesting these words. He stood silently looking at the floor, a bit dazed, "I think he just missed me. Plus, he wouldn't think of me like _that_ with Harley now."

"You know when Harley came into his life," Cora started, "she changed him. He quickly became more focused, observant, approachable. Yet, on Saturday, I hadn't seen him more panicked since the day he signed them adoption forms. He had it all planned about telling you about Harley, but we ruined it. Since he first spoke to you that evening, he couldn't hide his smile because you forgave and helped him, even though he held a huge secret away from you. That meant more to him than you know." Cora's smile softened. "Yeah, he missed you. More than you know."

* * *

He didn't want to think about it, but he couldn't help it. The girls were a force to be reckoned with, and their knowledge and wisdom was definitely overpowering his at the moment.

He couldn't wrap his head around Cora's words. So, he went and got changed to have a moment to rethink his life decisions. He met them back in the kitchen with little words exchanged. It wasn't like he was going to say anything to Derek, it just made him now begin to view everything in a different perspective? Maybe he did like him like _that_...

Fucks sake.

"None of you can say anything to him," he told the girls as he strode back into the kitchen. "He's got enough to deal with at the moment."

They nodded and stood up, "You coming back to ours?" Erica asked.

"Yeah," he answered, grabbing the Jeeps keys. "We can start looking for Harley's relative's." He opened the front door, letting the girls out first so he could lock it behind them.

"You do know that most of us can't read anything other than English?" Cora questioned, raising her eyebrows.

"There is this magical thing called the internet," Stiles said, turning to follow them down the driveway. "You should try it out someday."

Lydia rolled her eyes, "He means that you all can find things online whilst me and him read the books."

"You could have just said that." Cora stated.

Stiles shrugged with a little smile, "Nothing is ever that simple in my world, Cora." He hopped into his jeep, overlooking the girls tuts. He followed them to the house, drumming his fingers to the beat of the music on the steering wheel. When he pulled up alongside them, all thoughts of this morning vanished. There was no point thinking about it, as the last thing Stiles needed was anything to be awkward. 

The girls were talking back and forth, so Stiles sauntered behind them, trying his best to not listen into their conversation. Once they were in the house, Cora and Erica went straight into the living room whilst Stiles and Lydia went up to his room to gather whatever they could find to do with the Lilura's.

"What kind of books are we looking for specifically?" Lydia inquired, her eyes glancing over the multiple books that lined the wall. 

"Anything to do with Greek myths, God's, supernatural beings. Anything that looks mildly to do with magical creatures." Lydia hummed and they started to stack book after book. Some were in Greek, most in Latin, a few in English and even one in Spanish. It was definitely a whole week's worth of reading, and at least one thing had to correlate to Harley.

They carried all the books downstairs, shoving them in the corner of the living room and grabbing one. Cora and Erica were sat beside each other, a laptop and a packet of hobnobs in front of them. Derek chose that time to walk in. Stiles caught his eye and smiled, then realized that the girl in question wasn't even here, "Where's Harley?"

"The boy's took her out," Derek said, eyeing the books in the corner of the room.

"Can you read Latin?" He asked.

"No." Derek answered.

"Greek?"

"Nope."

"Spanish?"

"Oh, yeah." 

Stiles raised his eyebrow, "You can read Spanish?" Derek nodded slowly. "Why didn't I know this?"

"No sé por qué." Derek smirked at Stiles shocked expression.

Okay, so Stiles was now rethinking everything that the girls said to him this morning. 

"Just-just go find the book and sit down." Stiles said, looking back down at the Greek book in his hands, trying to hid the red tint his cheeks unexpectedly went. And that's how Derek joined the group, sat with a Spanish book reading to find anything about his daughters family. 

"What are we specifically looking for?" Erica questioned, crossing her legs into a more comfortable position.

"Any Lilura's that have mixed with ordinary warlocks or humans, or something unique," Stiles answered. "The Lilura's are a very sacred family. They don't mix with the real world, so anything weird you can write down."

And that's how they stayed quiet for the next two hours. Well, that was the limit for Stiles because he started getting agitated, his energy bursting at its brim.

He threw the book to the end of the couch and bounced up, pacing into the kitchen to make himself another coffee. There he sat, waiting for the kettle to boil, playing with his magic. Little blue sparks forming around his hand; it had been nearly 7 years since he discovered his spark, yet it never failed to amaze him.

"Are you okay?" A voice said from the doorway. 

Stiles nodded, his eyes not drawing away from the sparks. "Yeah, just couldn't keep still for much longer."

"How the hell did you sit on that plane for so long?" Derek queried, wandering further into the kitchen.

Stiles looked up at that, his magic dispersing, "I have 8 coffee's in the space of an hour, then slept for several hours of the journey. I’m surprised I didn’t die of caffeine overdose."

"Is that even possible?" Derek said.

Stiles shrugged, "I don't know." The kettle clicked. "And that's my cue for another one." Stiles pushed himself up. "Do you want one?" Derek shook his head, so Stiles just poured himself one and carried it back into the living room. He placed his coffee down on the table and picked his book up, beginning to read again.

"Does anyone want food?" Derek shouted from the Kitchen, and they all quickly yelled back 'yeah'. 

Lydia narrowed her eyes at Stiles, "Sexualem contentio inter vos duos..." _The sexual tension between you two..._

Stiles rolled his eyes. It was one of those moments where Lydia and he had one of their secret talks, "Tibi ferre, quod usque." _You had to bring that up._ Erica and Cora didn't even spare them a glance, just smiled to each other like they knew what Lydia was insinuating.

“Et ego servabo ita, donec eam in.” _And I will keep doing so until you get it on_.

Stiles groaned, “Please don’t say that.”

Lydia smirked, “I can say whatever I want darling.” Derek chose that time to enter, placing a platter of sandwiches on the coffee table. Stiles hid behind his book, mentally screaming at the girls. Derek didn’t say anything, just looked curiously between him and Lydia. 

Happy make Stiles feel uncomfortable day!

* * *

“I found some great news,” Erica spoke, shifting on the floor. Everyone’s head popped up curiously after another hour of learning barely anything. “Lilura’s magic may start gaining power at 3, but they can’t actually use it till their 6th birthday.”

“Oh, thank the lord.” Stiles praised. A slight smile worked its way onto Derek’s face which made Stiles smile too; knowing Harley was protected for a further 3 years made the whole situation a lot better.

“I think I’m researched out,” Cora mumbled. “Can we stop for the day and end on good news?”

“I guess so,” Stiles said, closing the book that was half finished. “All this sitting down is making me go crazy.”

“And just in time,” Derek nodded towards the door. Stiles looked confused until a car was faintly heard pulling up outside.

“Just in time indeed.” Lydia grabbed Stiles’ book and placed it on top of the pile alongside Derek’s.

The front door burst open, Isaac entering first with Harley waddling behind him. She surveyed the room, her eyes landing on Stiles with a big grin, “Stiles!”

Stiles was a little taken back by her excitement to see him, and so was everyone else, “Hey Harls.” The little girl ran up to him with a grin.

“Daddy said you were coming this morning,” Harley rushed. “Are you staying?”

“Only if you want me too.” Stiles answered. She nodded eagerly, “Well then, it’s settled.” She squealed and hugged one of his legs briefly. She was absolutely adorable.

“Hey,” Cora said, “we’re here too.” She gestured to everyone who was sat/stood around the living room looking at them.

Stiles sighed, “I can’t help being the best.” 

“Oh, shut up.” Jackson said, crossing his arms. 

Stiles turned to Lydia, “Aliud medium est culus.” _Your other half is an asshole. _

Lydia smirked, “I know.” Jackson rolled his eyes, knowing full well that they were talking about him. Harley giggled, catching their attention. She didn’t know what was going on but still found it amusing.

“Can we go and play with your magic?” Harley said towards Stiles. 

Stiles’ magic had been bubbling away for the past three hours, so getting the chance to even do the slightest of things would calm him down, “Sure.”

Harley grabbed his hand and pulled on it, "Yay!"

“Don’t annoy him to much Harley.” Derek said towards his daughter.

“Yeah,” Isaac grinned, “he’s a sensitive soul.”

Stiles stood up, keeping hold of Harley’s hand, narrowing his eyes, “Your just jealous that she likes me more than you.” Isaac rolled his eyes but did say anything else, so he let Harley drag him out of the house and through the backdoor to the garden. 

For the next hour, they both sat on the grass, watching as Stiles showed off his magic to a mesmerized Harley. They laughed a lot, and Stiles explained as he went on. It was cute the way she beamed every time he did something new; 3 days ago, he would of never of though he would be showing magic to a 2-year-old who happened to be Derek’s daughter. Yet, he wouldn’t change this moment for the world.

* * *

Stiles was currently sat in his room at the Hale house sorting out the clothes he had left behind. He had nothing to do after Harley feel asleep an hour ago; so he went upstairs to sort his little library out, change the covers on his bed and sort the clothes that were still lay in the draws and hung up in the cupboard. Maybe, just _maybe_, he was planning to move back in. He didn't just want to jump back into their life like he never left, especially now Harley was here.

He folded the last t-shirt and placed it in the draw, pushing it closed. He stood up from where he was sat on the floor and took a look around the room, now nice and neat.

There was a knock at the door, "Are you staying for dinner?" Stiles turned around to Derek, who was stood in the doorway looking around the room.

"Depends," Stiles said, "what you are ordering."

"Chinese." Derek told him.

Stiles was quickly to agree, "I'll come with you."

"Okay." Derek swung on his heel as Stiles shut his door. They made their way down the stairs and into a packed kitchen. Harley was awake, sat on the counter giggling. "Anyone coming with?" Derek asked, grabbing the Camaro keys.

“I am,” Cora said, “as you never get the order right.”

“Me too!” Harley shouted. Cora picked her up and placed her on the floor. She ran out of the room before anyone else.

Derek followed after her whilst Stiles hung back for Cora who was swinging her jacket on. He made his way to the door only to see Harley with her little red leather jacket on, which put a big smile on his face, “What can I say, leather jackets obviously run in the family.”

“Wait a minute, I need to get something.” Derek rushed up the stairs, leaving Stiles a bit confused. Cora sighed, glancing at Stiles then back at the stairs, obviously knowing something Stiles didn’t. He came back down the stairs, carrying a black leather jacket. “Take your jumper off.”

“Okay,” Stiles said wearily. He pulled the blue jumped over his head, folding it up and placing it on the side.

“Now put this on.” He shoved the jacket into Stiles’ arms. He pulled it on, and it actually fitted perfectly. “Now it runs in the family.” Derek grabbed Harley’s hand and they both wandered off to the car leaving Stiles flabbergasted at the doorway.

Cora put a hand on his shoulder, “Do you think we’re crazy now?”

* * *

Stiles was stood at the counter, waiting for the food. Cora, Derek and Harley had gone to the shop next door, so Stiles said he’d wait as he still felt a bit shocked that Derek called him family.

The door of the shop opened, and Stiles didn’t bother to turn around. However, it just happened to be the last person he expected, “Stiles?” He turned to the voice.

“Heather?” He said, surprised that the girl was still in town. 

“Oh my god!” She ran up to him and gave him a hug, which was totally unexpected. She pulled back, her hand on his shoulder, “How are you?”

“I-I’m great,” He didn’t really know what to say, he hadn’t seen the girl in years. “How are you?”

“I’m brilliant,” She exclaimed. The door opened again, and this time he knew it was the Hales. Her hand still lingered on Stiles as she turned to look at them. Derek’s eyes glanced between the hand on Stiles’ shoulder and Stiles, raising his eyebrows at him. Stiles quickly shook his head whilst Heather wasn’t looking, but it was quickly replaced with a nervous smile when she looked back at him. 

“So, what have you been doing for the past few years?” Stiles asked.

“Oh, just University,” She dragged her hand down Stiles arms. “What have you been doing; you look even more hotter than you were the last time I saw you.”

Stiles laugh awkwardly, “Long story.”

“I have all night.” She said.

So Stiles told her out of kindness. Derek stood in the corner with Cora and Harley, who was sat on the floor with a lollipop hanging out of her mouth. He watched Stiles, who looked incredibly awkward next to the girl. He felt a pang of jealously through him, which was hard to ignore when your sister was smirking out of the corner of your eyes.

“Go and save him,” Cora whispered, pushing him forward. He turned around and glared, but he couldn’t go back as Stiles had noticed. 

He came and stood behind Stiles, leaning on the counter, as the girl said, “So, are you still single?”

“Hey,” Derek over exaggerated the ‘H’, which caught the attention he needed. Stiles visible relaxed, “You okay?” He asked Stiles.

Stiles turned his head towards him and nodded, “I’m perfect.”

“And you are?” The girl questioned, her smile flattering.

“Derek,” Derek smiling the most fakest smile, “the boyfriend.” Stiles nearly chocked on air. That definitely caught him off guard. “And you are?”

“Heather.” She said, looking between Stiles and Derek. "So, how long have you two been a 'thing'?"

"Couple of months," Derek answered straight away like he had this all planned, "but we've kept it under the radar until last week." Stiles didn't really know what to do, he was just staring at Derek surprised.

"How cute." Heather said. She turned back to Stiles with a sweet smile. "Why did you leave out that you had a boyfriend?"

"You know me," He finally found his voice, "full of surprises! Plus, didn't want to break any trust and loyalty promises. I wouldn't want to lose him, would I?"

Heather hummed just as three huge bags were pushed across the counter towards Derek and Stiles, "Thank you." Stiles said as he went to pick up a bag as Derek picked up the other two. He grinned at Heather as he walked out, "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you later."

They wandered out of the shop, Harley and Cora in tow. They hopped into the car, shoving the bags between Cora and Harley in the back. Once the car was started, Stiles spoke. "Well, that was awkward."

"Which part?" Cora questioned. He could see her smirking through the reflection in the window.

"All of it." He answered.

"Sorry." Derek said, not taking his eyes off the road. Derek though Stiles would have thought he was an absolute crack head in there, so he didn't really want to look at Stiles.

"There is no need to say sorry,"

_No, because that was absolutely perfect, and I want you to call me your boyfriend again but that will probably never happen_. 

Cora sighed loudly in the back, shaking her head. "Boys." She muttered towards Harley, who was laughing, totally oblivious to the situation.

Stiles really didn't know what to feel or say. But what he did know is that Cora was bound to tell the whole pack what had just happened, then he would get a constant reminder that if he doesn't sort out his love life, then they will for him. His feelings for Derek were weird. And it was obvious that they had never really extinguished from before University either. Well, wasn't that great?

* * *

Derek had just put Harley to bed when he heard footsteps run up the stairs to his room. When he opened his bedroom door, he was not surprised to find Cora sat comfortably on the couch under the window. She smiled mischievously when she caught his eye, “Hello, dear brother.”

Derek closed the door behind him, “Hello, dear sister.” He knew what was coming and there was no way of stopping her.

“Please,” Cora gestured to the space beside her, “take a seat.”

Derek slowly made his way over to her, “You know this is my room… and house?” He still sat beside her.

She tutted, “I’m your sister, I can do whatever I want."

Derek rolled his eyes, “What’s up Cora?”

“You fully well know what is up,” She said, raising her eyebrows, “and don’t you dare deny it as I have a pack downstairs that are willing to back me up.”

Derek huffed, “I’m 27, I’m sure I can sort out my own feelings.”

“But you won’t,” Cora told him. Derek shrugged. “Exhibit A!”

“I’m not good at this stuff, okay.”

“Well, thanks for pointing out the obvious Derek.” Cora mumbled. He didn’t say anything to that, so Cora sighed, her facial expression softening, “The feelings never actually went away did they?”

Derek shook his head, “I saw him that night and it was like my heart stopped. The feelings just hit me again and it was like they never disappeared. I-I don’t know what to do.” 

_Hold back the tears Cora_, “I think you should tell him.” She said simply. 

“I can’t tell him!” Derek replied, his features turning sad. “I can’t, I just can’t. What if the worst happens and he hates me afterwards?”

“You do know this is Stiles we are talking about?” Cora sat forward, placing her hand in her brothers, making him look up to her. “I love you, okay? And you know I wouldn’t lie to you, right?” He nodded. “Good, because I have seen the way he looks at you; the way you look at him like he has stars in his eyes and ‘just friends’ don’t look at each other like that. ‘Just friends’ don’t get jealous when the other one is talking to someone else, ‘just friends’ don’t get feelings like you do. So, I’m going to tell you straight that you two will never be ‘just friends’.” Derek didn’t say anything, so she continued. “You need to confess before the feelings literally eat you alive.”

What she was saying was true. Every single word. Admitting it was a different situation, and admitting it to Stiles was a totally, out-of-comfort-zone situation that Derek really didn’t want to do but had to. “Okay,” He said quietly, “but in my own time, alright? I don’t want anyone to force it out.”

“I promise I won’t let anything like that happen.” Cora whispered, grabbing her big brother into a hug. “I promise you, whatever happens, I will always be here for you.”

Once Cora left, Derek didn’t sleep. Correction couldn’t sleep. He paced around his room, sat down in the shower, and read three random books. It was safe to say, the whole situation was stressing him out. The sooner he told, the better he was going to feel, as keeping this a secret was actually killing him and it did not feel good.

* * *

Stiles stayed at home the next morning, sorting out his soon to be published book with the editor over the phone. The final preparations had been put in place, so it was all good to go from there on which made everything a relief. He just hoped that everyone else would love it just as much as he and the pack did.

Once that was all done, he made himself a coffee and lay on the couch to rest his tired eyes before heading back over to the Hale's, or to the cafè as Erica and Jackson were working that day.

However, he did have a lot of reading and research to do so maybe the cafè wasn't the best place to be due to being surrounded by cakes and coffee.

Then the doorbell rang. He sighed and put his coffee down, trudging his way over to the door. He swung it open, startled by the boy on the other side, "Scott?"

Scott smiled that crooked grin that was fucking _annoying_ because it wasn't straight, yet it was adorable at the same time, "Surprise!" 

Stiles literally leapt onto him, hugging him for the first time in three years. After a few heart-felt seconds, he let go, his smile bright, "You're not supposed to be back till Friday!" 

"We weren't," Scott said, "but there was this virus going around the school so they moved graduation closer, meaning we could come home earlier."

"That's amazing! Well, for some of you anyway," Stiles said. "Where's Allison?"

"Gone to see the girls." He told him.

"Awh, I wanted to see her." Stiles pouted.

Scott rolled his eyes, "Well, you can see her if you hurry up. Then we can get on our merrily way to the Hale house."

Stiles quickly downed his coffee and they soon made their way to the Hale house. Scott filled him in on somethings, whilst Stiles did the same. They barely stopped talking, and they had so much to tell too, "Have you told Erica your back yet?"

"Nope," Scott answered, "but she'll get off work in 10 minutes, so I'll wait till she gets back home."

They arrived at the house where Allison's car was parked outside. Stiles wasted no time jumping out of the car and speed walking into the house. He skidded into the kitchen where he heard her voice, "You know, you could have stayed and said hi."

Allison spun around to face him, "You could have come to the car and said hi," Allison grinned. "Did you not sense us with your Merlin tingle?"

"Oh, shut up." He said, but still made his way over to her and gave the girl a huge hug.

She pulled back and gave him a once over, "Oh my did puberty hit you like a train _again_?"

"What do you mean, again?"

"Like, you look absolutely gorgeous," She commented. "You have somehow had another glow up."

"See," Lydia said from beside her best friend, "everyone is seeing it bar you."

Stiles rolled his eyes, "Which is typical."

"Don't be so harsh on yourself," Lydia hit him lightly on the arm. "You're only the second smartest in this room."

Isaac chuckled from the other side of the room. No one had left for work, so Stiles presumed everyone didn't work on a Monday afternoon which was a bit strange, but he wasn't going to question spending time with his friends.

The front door slammed open, causing a few of the werewolves to flinch at the sound. There was a high pitch squeal, "Oh my god, your back!" Erica's heels clattered across the floor towards Scott, giving him a hug. Allison went over and gave her a hug too. Jackson came in a little later, greeting them as friendly as Jackson could. It was like one big happy family reunion. Erica recited the conversation he and Scott had just with Scott again, overjoyed to see her other best friend back

"Where are the Hales?" Scott asked, looking around the kitchen to find they were the only ones missing.

"Here." Cora came around the corner with Derek and Harley in tow. Stiles tried not to think about last night, or his newly flourishing feelings, but it was kinda hard when Derek had come down in a shirt that fitted a little small, meaning it hugged his muscles tightly.

Abort mission, repeat, _abort mission_.

"Well, now we're all here as a pack," Scott said, "can I take the boys out for some drinks later seen as though we are now all legal?"

"Hell yeah." Jackson agreed quickly. 

"That means I'll take the girls out, including Harley, later too," Allison said. "However, I want Stiles to come with us."

Hang on a minute.

"But I want Stiles to come with us too." Scott complained.

Stiles rubbed a hand over his face, "How about Stiles goes with you both?" He asked. "The girls can go out now, and the boys can go out in the evening."

"Great!" Erica smiled. "Let me go get changed then we can go."

Harley was bouncing in Cora's arm excitedly, whilst Cora only looked mildly pleased with the situation. She caught his eye from across the room and half smiled, and he smiled slightly back. Yet, something told him that the rest of the day was going to be a long one.


	4. You're My Knight In Shining Armour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so all my exams have been cancelled.
> 
> Might just be able to post a little more.

_"Magic tumbled from her pretty lips and when she spoke the language of the universe - the stars sighed in unison."_

**-Michael Faudet**

* * *

"I suppose you took the news well?" Allison gestured to Harley who was sat on Stiles' knee. She kept looking between him and Harley with a small fond smile.

"It was pretty surprising," Stiles confessed, "so yeah, I took it very well considering."

The girls, and Stiles, were gathered around a circular table in a French restaurant called '_Le Ciel Alimentaire._' It was Allison's favourite restaurant; not only because it was French, but because the food was heaven on a plate. He wasn't even exaggerating.

“Well?” Cora scoffed. “More like incredibly fantastic.” Stiles rolled his eyes. 

Harley eyed the bread roll’s in the middle of the table, obviously wanting one, and looked up at Stiles with a contagious smile. He couldn’t help but reach across the table to grab her one, disregarding the grins the girls were sending their way. He gave her it, ruffling her hair as she took a chunk out of the bread. “You’re like her second dad.” Allison said.

Stiles narrowed his eyes, “Let’s not have this conversation now.” 

Allison threw up her hands, “Just merely observing Stiles.” 

“I have some news,” Lydia suddenly blurted out, grabbing everyone attention bar Harley’s who was happily nibbling on the bread. She took a deep breath, “I think I’m pregnant.”

A chorus of ‘oh my god’ and ‘Lydia!’ flew around the table. Lydia quickly hushed them, “I’m not fully sure yet! So please don’t tell Jackson.”

“Oh Lyds,” Allison said, “this is amazing!”

“You don’t have to worry about us telling Jackson,” Erica assured her.

“Your secret is safe with us.” Cora added. 

Lydia glanced towards Stiles, who was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “A baby Banshee and Were-kanima? I wonder how that is going to turn out.”

Lydia laughed nervously, “Guess we’re going to find out.”

Stiles grabbed Lydia’s hand, gently squeezing it, “You and Jackson are going to be an incredible parents, Lyds. And we are all here to support you two, through thick and thin.”

“Thank you.” She whispered, sliding her hand out of Stiles’ palm. 

“Hey,” Stiles said, “I bagsy God-father too.”

Lydia thought for a second, then smirked, “Only if you admit that we were spot on with Derek.”

He huffed and glared at her, “Okay, okay. I guess – don’t give me that look Erica – that you were all correct.” Cora basically gleamed, her face lighting up like a bulb. 

“Aha!” Erica exclaimed. “Don’t ever underestimate the power we girls have Stilinski.”

“Never,” Lydia said. “Baby Whittemore is going to have fantastic God-fathers.”

“Well then,” Allison picked up her wine glass, “here’s to baby Whittemore. Cheers.” Everyone clanked their glasses together, which finally caught Harley’s attention.

She turned to Lydia, “You and Uncle Jack-jack are having a baby?” _Uncle Jack-jack?_ Oh boy, Stiles was definitely going to say something about that to Jackson.

Lydia smiled affectionately at her, “Yeah, but you can’t tell Jack-jack, okay? It can be our little secret.” 

Harley nodded, bouncing excitedly on Stiles’ knee. “I promise.”

Just on que, the waiter started to bring out the food which drifted the conversation from children. It smelt unbelievable and tasted even better. God, how he had missed doing all this. And now the whole pack was back together, he was convinced that everything was going to go back to how it was but with an extra 2-year-old added to the equation. 

But life had never been that simple.

* * *

Stiles carried Harley back to the Hale house, her head resting on his shoulders, arms lazily around his neck. She had fallen asleep as soon as they got back in the car, and seen as though she wasn't sleeping well recently, Stiles wanted to keep her asleep for as long as possible.

Erica opened the front door as quietly as she could, quickly hushing the boys on the other side of the door. Stiles didn't even glance at them as he passed the living room, he just made his way up towards Harley's room noiselessly.

When he stepped inside the girls room, he gently placed her in bed, taking off her shoes in the process. The evening sunset shone through the window above her bed, illuminating the neon star stickers that decorated the blue walls and ceiling. The room itself was huge, yet the toys that were scattered across the floor filled the room up making it appear smaller than it actually was.

The door of the bedroom opened, and Derek stood on the other side, peering inside to check on his daughter, "Is she okay?" He whispered gazing up at Stiles.

"Yeah," Stiles said, "she is just tired." 

Derek opened the door wide, "We better go," he said, "the boys are getting ready."

Stiles glanced back at a peaceful Harley and then wandered through the door. Once the door clicked shut, Stiles let out a big sigh, "I'm too tired for this."

They began to walk back down the hallway, "You know you can always stay here tonight."

Stiles thought for a couple of seconds, "Maybe I might do," he hummed. "It will save me from waking dad up at God knows what time."

“How is your dad?” Derek asked.

“Same old, same old,” Stiles said. “Working every moment he has. That’s all he does: Eat, sleep, work, repeat.” Stiles paused. “You’ll have to come over one day. He does talk about you all a lot.”

Scott appeared at the end of the staircase, his eyebrows risen, “Come on, we don’t have all night.”

Stiles tutted, “I swear you all think I’m a yo-yo.” 

“Stop complaining,” Scott grabbed one of his shoulders as he passed him. “I haven’t seen you in 3 years, and I have important news. So, let’s just have fun for once.”

“Fine,” He dragged out the ‘e’. Scott saw that as a victory and smiled, letting him go. They joined the others, who were shrugging on jackets, at the doorway. The girls were all huddled around the living room, a film streaming on the television. Stiles wished he could join them, but he had to go for his best friends sake. Plus, there was more important news which he really wanted to know, so he had no choice.

“Ready?” Scott asked, mostly aiming it at Stiles who was longingly looking at the couch.

Stiles snapped his head towards him, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

* * *

'_The Wolf Pack_' bar was located across town, a 35-minute drive from the Hale house. They could have gone to a closer one, but that specific bar served free drinks to Derek and the pack, meaning they could all drink as much as they wanted without getting charged.

Stiles on the other hand was utterly shattered, so drinking his soul away felt like a brilliant plan at that moment. Yet, he would be the only one drunk, which would lead him to saying something he shouldn't, or even confessing his undying_ lo_\- no, liking Derek. That could not happen.

They were sat around a circular table, again, in the corner of the room like they usually did. They had all ordered beer (typical) but Stiles just wanted a water which received a few calculating looks, "What? I refuse to be the only tipsy or drunk person here." He simply said. 

After the drinks were served, Scott grinned crookedly, "So Stiles, did the girls say anything... interesting."

Stiles eyes flickered to Jackson, but then around the table just to be inconspicuous, "If they did, I couldn't say. It's our girl code."

"Awh," Jackson cooed, "always knew you were secretly a girl."

"No," Stiles said, "I'm just a decent human being who can actually keep a secret. But, you wouldn't know that, would you?"

"Jesus Christ," Boyd mumbled. "Can you two just shut up for one night?"

Jackson rolled his eyes. Stiles went to say something, but Derek elbowed him in the side to shut him up.

"Anyway," Scott interrupted Stiles before he could say anything else, "who is actually single here."

Stiles and Derek let their eyes drift around the room, trying to look anywhere but at each other. Isaac on the other hand hesitantly nodded, even though he was with Cora, but Derek wasn't to know that.

"Ahh," Scott said knowingly, smirking slightly. "So no relationships whilst any of you were away, or whilst I was away?"

"Eh," Stiles shrugged, meeting Scott's eyes for a second before looking at his water. "Several maybe?"

Derek chocked on his drink, which made Stiles not want to look at him at _all. _Scott's smirk grew, as did the others, "Hot shot in England, could never have guessed that."

"Shut up." He grumbled.

“And you used to call me a player.” Jackson said, finding the situation too amusing.

“Why so many?” Isaac asked.

He kept his eyes trained to his glass of water, “If you love someone but don’t have the intentions of marrying or having children or living with them till you die, what’s the point of dating them? You’re just going to be left unhappy and steal someone else’s chance of happiness. That’s why there was so many as none of them were the one.” 

There was a stunned silence. He could feel all their heated gazes on him, but he didn’t dare to look up. “Well,” Scott finally said, “that answers that.”

“Hot shot in England is now full of wisdom.” Isaac was stunned.

“Whatever,” Stiles mumbled. Stiles clicked his fingers and the water disappeared. Replacing that was a vodka and coke, which he most definitely needed right now. He took a long drink.

“Oh lord,” Boyd watched as Stiles downed half of his drink. He could undeniably feel sense Stiles’ nerves and stress, so he dragged the conversation away from him and onto something else. “How was University Scott?”

Stiles looked up and smiled slightly at Boyd, who nodded once back.

He couldn’t help but drown out everyone’s chatter. His thoughts were scattered all over the place and now he was worried that he had been blatantly obvious in his 'mini speech' that he was actually talking about a _certain_ someone. Of course the others knew - the girls definitely told them - but he didn't think Derek knew. God, if he knew that, Stiles was pretty sure he would be thrown out of a window, multiple times.

Or what if Derek already knew? What if Derek actually liked him back but he was too oblivious to see it?

The questions whizzed around his head like God knows what; this made him want to drink a lot more just to drown out the thoughts, which was not a good idea as he was the only one who was able to get drunk.

A firm hand was suddenly on his thigh, holding down his leg that was bouncing up and down due to nerves. Stiles looked down at Derek’s hand, then up at him. Derek seemed concerned; his eyebrow furrowed. 

“Sorry.” Stiles whispered, trying not to distract the boys conversation. 

“What’s up?” Derek asked.

“The sky.” He deadpanned. 

“It’s actually the ceiling. Now tell me what’s actually up.”

“I’m just over thinking,” Stiles said. “Nothing serious, I’m okay.”

Derek just hummed like he knew something was actually wrong, but he didn’t push the situation nor move his hand from Stiles leg. It was in fact quite comforting.

Stiles abruptly remembered that Scott had something important to say at the house, yet hadn’t mentioned anything since, “Scotty, what was the important news you were dying to tell us?”

Scott’s turn to Stiles, his eyes full off joy, “Well,” he started, “the news I wanted to tell you all, as a group so-”

“Just spit it out, McCall,” Boyd interrupted.

“I’m going to ask Allison to marry me.” He quickly said, a grin spreading across his face.

“Holy shit!” Stiles exclaimed.

“Dude,” Isaac patted him on the shoulder, “that’s great.” 

“Don’t tell any of the girls,” Scott told them.

“Oh, we won’t,” Jackson said. “I presume they will act more extreme than we did.”

“I bet Erica and Lydia have already planned the wedding.” Boyd commented, a small smile spread across his face.

Scott peered towards Derek, who had stayed pretty silent. Derek looked thoughtful, “I’d advise a spring or fall wedding. It’s a lot prettier.” Okay, so no one was expecting that.

“Autumn is the best season,” Stiles said. “Anyway, what’s to say Ali will say yes?”

Scott gave him a ‘_are you serious?_’ look, “Don’t say that.”

Stiles smirked, “When are you asking her then? I want to be close to by to hear the answer.”

“Soon?” Scott sighed. “I don’t know. I’ll do it when the times right.”

“Sounds like a fabulous plan,” Stiles grinned. “Well, till then, let’s celebrate that Scott now has finally got his head out of the ground and has grown some courage-”

“Hey!”

“-to ask Allison the big question.” He raised his glass and downed the rest of it contents. “Jesus, I’m going to need more of this to get me through this night.”

* * *

Derek was currently half holding Stiles up on their little walk from the car to the Hale house. Stiles may have had one too many drinks, which lead him to expressing his wedding plans out loud (which the whole bar could hear) and at one point having a conversation with the wall. Derek decided enough was enough when Stiles started to stroke his hair, which made him feel funny all over. Plus, the rest of the boys were ‘trying’ not to laugh, and that made Derek want to throw them through a wall.

Stiles tripped up the steps to the house and Derek caught him, pulling him back up. Stiles just giggled and patted Derek’s chest, “I’m okay big boy.” Derek rolled his eyes and let go of Stiles slightly, his arm still holding him up.

Isaac opened the door up for them, smirking as they passed him. The girls looked towards Stiles who waved at them as Derek dragged him past the living room and up the stairs. “You let him drink?” He heard Erica say harshly.

“He was having fun.” Isaac pointed out.

“You know he can’t hold his drink like you do!” Cora cried.

Derek ignored the rest as he pulled Stiles upstairs to his room, a look of worry washing over his face. Stiles was unaware of what was going on, and he was tripping over that much Derek was debating on carrying him the rest of the way. Derek pushed Stiles’ door open and lead him straight to his bed.

Stiles flopped onto his bed face down, “Ouch.” He said, then giggled again. Derek rolled his eyes and pulled Stiles’ shoes off, placing them at the end of his bed. He went into Stiles’ bathroom and returned with a glass of water, leaving it on the bed side table.

Stiles turned onto his back and gave Derek a goofy grin, “You are the most charming man I know.”

Derek eyebrows rose, “Is that so?” 

“More than you know.” Stiles sat up and threw his jacket at Derek, who caught it and hung it up in the wardrobe. “See, you’re my knight in shining armour.”

Derek sighed, and went to walk out of the room, “Good night Stiles.”

“Night-night Der bear.” Stiles shouted. 

He turned Stiles’ light off and closed the door behind him. He made his way across the hall to his room, and immediately jumped into bed once he was in the room and had stripped and changed into some jogging pants. He didn’t want to think about what Stiles had done and said, he was drunk after all, but he couldn’t help it. Maybe the sayings true: drunken sayings are sober thoughts. Only one could guess.

* * *

Stiles woke up tangled in his duvet covers. It only took a few seconds before the banging headache kicked in and he felt like he was about to vomit his insides up. This then led him to tripping over his covers on the way to the bathroom, banging his head on the floor causing a loud bang, then struggling to get up to only throw up just in time in the toilet. 

And this is why you don’t drink kids.

Once all the contents of his stomach were thrown up, he ended up lying on the floor trying to regain fully consciousness; he also couldn’t walk two steps without falling so staying on the floor sounded like the best option. 

The door of his room swung open. He didn’t bother to look up at who had entered, “I’m okay.” He voice was groggy and didn’t sound healthy at all.

Allison and Erica peered over him, a look of concern washing over their faces, “Then why do have a cut across you right eyebrow then?” Erica asked.

Stiles hand went up to his right eyebrow and went he pulled it away, his fingers were covered in blood, “I fell over.”

Allison sighed, “I know, we heard.” She held her hand out for Stiles to grab and pulled him up. He stumbled forward, but the girls held him up steady. They guided him to the bed and sat him down.

Erica sat beside him, “Why did you drink?” 

Stiles glanced at her through the corner of his eye, “To calm my nerves. I promise you I started off with water.”

Allison through a pile of clothes at him, “I’m going to kill them all.” She muttered; her jaw clenched.

“No, no.” Stiles shook his head, regretting it immediately. “It’s my fault. None of them got me a drink, I refilled my own cup knowing what I was getting myself into. Don’t blame them for my mistakes. Anyway, I’m not getting much sleep at the moment due to this book then random nightmares popping up like God knows what. The alcohol made me sleep and forget my problems. So, I may feel shit, but I don’t care.”

Allison came and sat on the other side of him, “I love you, okay? And-and if you are struggling through anything, we are here for you. Always.”

Erica slid her hand into his, “What Ali said.”   
  
He smiled weakly at them both, “Thanks.”

They both hugged him side on, trapping him in a tightly. He laughed slightly, feeling somewhat better for them just being there. They let go and stood up, “You, get dressed,” Allison said. “Everyone downstairs is worried about you.”

“Plus Harley is asking for you.” Erica pointed out.

“Okay.” Stiles pushed himself up. “I’ll get dressed. Just let me clean this cut.”

They went to walk out of the room, but Allison paused in the doorway, “Do hurry up, I can’t stand seeing Derek so miserable and scowly.” She winked and closed the door. Stiles huffed and flopped back down on the bed.

* * *

Stiles wandered into the kitchen, ignoring everyone’s gazes. He went straight over to the coffee, pouring himself one and taking a long sip. Harley seemed to be the only lively one in the room, her energy bouncing around the room, “Stiles!”

He smiled in her direction, “Hey Harls.” 

Her eyebrows furrowed, just like Derek’s usually did when we was concerned or angry, or both. “Why is there a red mark on your head?”

Of course the child noticed. So, that meant everyone else noticed. 

Derek’s head shot up from across the room, his eyes zooming in at the red slash on Stiles’ eyebrow. “I’m okay!” He said quickly. “I just fell over…”

“Of course you did.” Cora mumbled from beside Derek.

“Hey, I’m hungover. Don’t judge.” He defended himself.

Lydia reached up to his head, putting pressure beside the cut. He couldn't help but wince away from the pain. "Don't lie Stilinski." Lydia said, pulling her hand away.

Stiles glared at her, "I'm pretty sure I won't die, Martin."

Lydia waved him away, "Says the boy who was found lying on his floor struggling to gain consciousness."

Stiles turned to glare at Allison and Erica, who were staring at the floor. Stiles settled his cup down, "I better go call my dad."

"Derek's already done it," Isaac said. "Reassured him that you were totally 100% fine."

"I need some fresh air then." He brushed past everyone, trying his best to walk in a straight line (it kind of succeeded) into the living room to grab a book on Greek Mythology. He went onto the porch and lay on the swinging bench, reading the Latin book in his head whilst the birds sang in the forest just beyond the house.

He managed half an hour of peace before someone interrupted him. But it was someone he didn't mind at all. 

Harley skipped her way up to him, her bright grin as infectious as always. He sat up, smiling at her. "What's up Harls?"

"Daddy asked me to come and see if you were okay." She said.

Stiles seemed to get butterflies in his stomach, which was automatic response when Derek Hale was ever mentioned to care about him, "Go and tell him if he wants to know if I'm okay, he can come and ask himself."

Harley nodded, "Okay." She skipped back into the house, her footsteps clattering against the wooden porch.

It didn't take a minute till Derek was in the doorway. "Don't just stand there." Stiles motioned to the space beside him. He placed the book he was reading on the arm of the bench as Derek wandered over to him.

"To answer your question," Stiles said as Derek sat down, "I'm fine. Besides from being tired, hungry, and hungover."

Derek raised his eyebrows, "Are you sure," he glanced up to Stiles' cut, "as that looks pretty painful."

He was telling the truth. The cut was stinging, "Eh, I've dealt with a lot worse. Remember the time Isaac accidentally stabbed me?"

"Yeah, let's not talk about that."

Stiles chuckled, "_That_ was painful. Coulda killed him."

"You nearly did." Derek murmured.

"Oh yeah," he remembered. "I threw him down the stairs. Twice."

Derek smiled, then it flattered as soon as it appeared, "Are you not sleeping well?" 

He shook his head, "The book is stressing me out. Plus, I'm having a recurring nightmare which makes me not want to sleep."

"What about?" Derek paused, quickly adding. "You don't have to tell me."

"No, no I'll tell you," Stiles took a deep breath. "I keep seeing this man, with a dark cloak covering his face. He's stood in the middle of a wood, with red magic covering his hands. Then more people gather around him, some with guns, some with magic. Then the whole forest turns to fire and ash. The fire then comes racing up to me and I can't do anything about it. That's when I wake up."

"You don't think..?" 

"It’s a vision?" He finished Derek's question. "I really hope not.” He leant back, the thoughts of his nightmare being a vision scared the hell out of him. So, he changed the subject. “When’s it Harls birthday?”

Derek looked towards the woods, “On Thursday, so in 2 days.” 

“Better get to work then,” Stiles picked up the book and stood up. “I’ll go to the police station now, so I’ll run that note through the systems.”

“I’ll go and get it,” Derek rose, following Stiles back into the house. Derek went through a draw in the living room pulling out a small note. He passed it to Stiles, “If you find something, ring me immediately.”

“Don’t worry,” Stiles said, “I will.” With a last smile in Derek’s direction, Stiles strode out of the house and hopped into his Jeep and began his drive to the station. 

* * *

The Sheriff had let Stiles take home a hard drive of everyone’s profile in the town due to it being a life or death situation. However, his dad did threaten to execute him if he lost the drive, so Stiles’ was protecting it with his whole life. 

The downside of having it all on a hard drive is that Stiles just couldn’t type in ‘I.R’ into the system, he had to go through every profile individually. It was going to take him ages, but he would stay up all night just to find out who ‘I.R’ was. For Harley and the packs sake.

Time flew by. His dad was back home before he knew it, and he wasn’t even a quatre of the way through it all. There was more people in this town than he thought, and he was pretty sure by the end of it he would be able to recognise everyone he met.

There was a knock at his door at 7pm, making him look away from his computer screen for the first time in hours. Noah stepped in, “There is someone here to see you.” He opened the door wider and Lydia stood on the other side, fiddling with her jacket sleeves.

“Come in Lyds,” Stiles stood up from his computer chair. Lydia ambled in silently whilst the Sheriff glanced at her, concerned. “Thanks dad.” He nodded and closed the door, leaving Stiles alone with Lydia. “What’s up?”

Lydia dropped her bag onto Stiles’ bed and snooped around in it, fulling out a little cardboard box; more specifically, a pregnancy test. Oh, “I couldn’t take it home, or to my mums as she is on holiday and the only other place I feel safe is here.”

“Are… are you going to do it now?” Stiles asked. He didn’t know what to say.

She nodded, “Can I use your bathroom?” Stiles instantly agreed. He may have no words, but he was definitely going to support her through everything.

She hesitantly went into Stiles’ bathroom as he paced back and forth. He waited for her to return, but she only opened the door marginally and beckoned him over. He went over to the bathroom to see her sat on the floor, knees pulled up against her chest, “Wait with me.”

Stiles slid down the wall beside her. She let her head rest against his shoulder, “This is going to feel like forever.”

He hummed, “Maybe, but the outcome will be worth it.”

“If it’s positive.”

“If it is,” Stiles said, “are you going to Jackson straight away?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t keep anything like this away from him.”

Stiles thought for a moment about what the baby would look and act like. Would they be a banshee like Lydia? Or a were-kanima like Jackson? Maybe they’ll have a tail… Stiles laughed a little at thought. 

Lydia looked up at him, “What?”

“Baby Whittemore might have a tail.” He grinned.

Lydia smiled, “I didn’t think of that.” An alarm rang through the room and Lydia reached into her pocket to turn it off. She sat up and reached up onto the counter, bringing the pregnancy test down. She looked at it and a large grin spread across her face, “Oh my god.”

“What?” Lydia showed the test to Stiles. In tiny letters it spelt out ‘pregnant’ and he couldn’t help but beam in excitement. 

“I’m going to be a God-father!” He yelled.

“I’m going to be a mum!” She shouted. She pulled him into a hug on the floor, her world changing suddenly. They pulled back and tears were falling down Lydia’s face. “I’m going to have a baby Stiles.” 

Stiles wiped the tears off her face, “And if my judgement is correct, then you are going to be the best mum I know.”

Lydia laughed, “I better go and tell Jackson.”

“Yeah,” Stiles agreed. He helped her up, “Call me once you have told Jackson. I want to hear everything.”

“Of course.” Stiles walked with Lydia down to the front door. The smile didn’t leave her face as he waved her goodbye and neither did his. His dad looked confused as he flung himself on the couch, smiling like a child. 

“Why are you smiling like that?” Noah asked, peering over his reading glasses.

“Oh pops,” Stiles replied, “you’re just going to have to wait and see.”

* * *

He had stayed up till 2am going through the profiles. He couldn’t stay up any longer as he felt like his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. So he slept for a couple of hours before his nightmares woke him again. He then restarted his search, a cup of coffee in hand. 

About another 4 hours in, he was ready to give up all hope. He was only halfway through and the amount of name he had ready in the past 18 hours was ridiculous. He decided to do a couple more and call it a day.

He clicked the next button once more, about to throw his computer against a wall. But he paused at the sight of the name. He swiftly picked up his phone and dialled the number at the top of his contact list.

It rang once, “Hello?”

“Derek,” Stiles’ let out a shaky breath. “I’ve found her. I’ve found Harley’s mum.” 


	5. We're Going To Conquer The World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE TIME HAS ARRIVED.

_"I am a child of the moon being raised by the sun in a world walked by stars and a sky drawn with flowers."_

**\- Zara Ventris**

* * *

"Her name is Ivy Reinhouse." Stiles told Derek as they drove to Ivy's house. Stiles wasted no time driving to the Hale house, to then immediately hop into Derek's car once he arrived. There was no time to spare with Harleys birthday being tomorrow.

"Does it say anything else?" Derek asked. Stiles was pretty sure Derek was speeding through the street twice the speed limit, but he didn't care as long as they got to Ivy's house quickly and safely.

"She is 29, originally from Los Angeles," Stiles explained. "She is three quarters warlock and a quarter werewolf, which would explain the part wolf in Harley." He glanced towards Derek who’s stress levels were through the roof. He didn't need his magic to see that, it was evident on his face.

“Relax,” Stiles said softly. “We’re going to get answers today, one way or another.”

“It…It’s not _that_ I’m worried about.” Derek said.

Stiles thought for a few seconds, studying Derek’s expression. Then it clicked, “Oh. You’re worried about meeting her.” Derek stayed silent, his hands gripping the steering wheel.

He then abruptly pulled up in front of a house, turning the ignition off. Both of them turned to look at little one-story house beside the car. It was painted blue with a white front door and window frames; in Stiles’ opinion, it was pretty cute looking.

Stiles opened the car door, “Well, here goes nothing.”

Derek followed suit, tracking a little behind him with his head held high, alert. All Stiles’ wanted to do was hold his hand and tell him everything would be okay, but the world didn’t work like that and Stiles’ didn’t want to make things awkward.

They paused at the front door, “What are we going to do?” Derek asked. 

“Urm, well, maybe we could do what normal people do, and knock on the door?” 

“Really? I didn’t think of that.” Derek said sarcastically. “I meant what are we going to do when we go in?”

“I don’t know,” Stiles shrugged. 

He knocked on the door before Derek could say anything else or run away; he did not need to be talking to Harley’s biological mother without her adoptive father.

They idled on the doorstep for a couple of long seconds before the door partially opened revealing a short woman. Stiles smiled at her, “Are you Ivy Reinhouse?”

“Who’s asking?”

"The Hales.”

She quickly shut the door. “That's fucking fantastic.” Derek grumbled, throwing his hands up in the air. “What are we-”

The door swung open wide, interrupting Derek. “Get in before they see you.” The woman said, beckoning them inside. Derek and Stiles exchanged a confused look but still hurried in.

The inside was just as pretty as the outside, but they didn’t get time to admire it as the woman was seating them on one of the white couches, “I’ve been waiting for your arrival.”

“Pardon?” Stiles raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” She smiled politely. “I’m Ivy Reinhouse.”

Now that Ivy had stated the obvious, Stiles and Derek both began to see her resemblance to Harley: the brown hair and eyes, the contagious smile, the fair features. Harley was most defiantly more like her mother than her father, even though Stiles didn’t know what her biological father looked like.

"It’s nice to meet you?” Stiles said, meaning to sound polite, but it came out more like a question.

“What did you mean you’ve been waiting for our arrival?” Derek went straight to the point, not taking any of that polite business.

Ivy turned to him. She didn’t looked fussed that Derek was being blankly impatient, “Well, Stiles arrived back in Beacon Hill’s on Friday so I assumed you would end up finding me sooner or later.”

Stiles looked at her astonished, “H…How did know that?”

“Word travels fast.”

“What, so I’m like a hot topic?”

She titled her head, “You are the Sheriff son and part of the Hale pack.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes, “We aren’t here for me,” he said, “so let’s address the actual situation. Who’s Harleys biological father?”

Her smiled turned into a frown, her features hardening. “Someone you shouldn’t mess with. Maybe you have heard of him, Tiberius Whittle.”

Stiles shot forward, sitting on the edge of the couch, “You are joking, right?” 

“Stiles,” Derek sat up beside him, “what is she on about?”

Stiles turned to him, his eyes full of worry and uncertainty, “Tiberius Whittle is the most dangerous warlock in the world. His crimes are unspeakable and there is no one in this world more powerful than him other than the actual Lilura’s.”

Derek gulped, “Oh.”

“That’s where you come in Stiles,” Ivy caught their attention. “You say there is no one more powerful than him, yet there in only one person who could defeat him. And that person is sat in front of me.”

Stiles laughed nervously, “You are joking right?”

“Why would I joke about this?” Her look drifted between him and Derek. “Do you want to know the real reason I left Ella-”

“Her name is Harley.” Derek said through gritted teeth.

Ivy gave him an apologetic look, “Sorry, Harley, with you? After her third birthday, I wouldn’t have been able to protect her from her father by myself. That’s why I put her on your doorstep, so she would be protected and safe. You’re the Hale pack, the most powerful pack in America. You consist of several wolves, a banshee, a hunter and a warlock whose powers are unbelievably powerful. There is no where in the world where she is safer than with you.”

“So, it’s her father that we need to look out for?” Derek asked. The sharp edge to his voice had disappeared now he knew the truth.

“Most definitely,” Ivy answered. “Those years ago when I first met him, I knew what I was getting myself into. Then, I told him I was pregnant, and he vanished. I went through everything alone, and I had this beautiful baby girl.” She stood up and went to one of the cabinets that lined the wall. She pulled open a draw and pulled out a letter, “A couple weeks after she was born, I found this on the doorstep.” She passed the letter to Stiles, and he opened it shuffling closer to Derek so he could read it with him.

_Doesn’t she look precious? It’s a shame that her beauty and power will go to waste, but I cannot have her being more formidable than myself when she is older. I’m sorry, my dear, but she will be stopped, one way or another. And if that means killing my own daughter, then so be it._

_T.W_

Somehow Stiles’ hand found Derek’s. The letter shook him, and he could feel that it had shook Derek too as his grip was tightening on Stiles’ hand. “Holy shit.” Was all that he could say.

Ivy took the letter off Stiles, “And that’s when I planned to leave her on your doorstep. I know this is frightening, but I know you can protect her. Your more powerful than you know.”

“I…I am not who you think I am,” Stiles whispered. “It’s not physically possible. None of my family are magic-”

“That’s what make you special,” She said. “You're the God’s _electus_, the chosen one. Every century there is only one _electus_ born, and whoever that is possess unimaginable powers. Tiberius has managed to kill every single one of them before they unlocked their full potential, expect you Stiles."

Stiles voice wavered, "Why hasn't he come for me then?" 

"In the magic community, everyone knows there is an _electus_ alive. Who that person is, that's another question. Because you gained your magic later than the usual warlock, no one had the chance to trace and locate you so you were kept hidden away. Tiberius thinks the Hale back consists on 2 humans. Use that to your advantage Stiles, get him when he least expects it. After all, you're only human to him."

* * *

"If you ever need my help, I'll be here." Ivy held the door open for them as they wandered out of the house.

Stiles hadn't spoken much since he was told basically the lives of many were resting on his shoulders, "Thank you."

She lightly grabbed hold of Derek's arm. He turned to look at her, "How is she... Harley?"

Derek's smiled slightly, "She's great. She's like a little ray of sunshine."

Ivy chuckled, "Thought so." She glanced towards Stiles who was lent against the car, his magic circling his hands. "Look after him."

Derek followed her gaze "Stiles?"

She hummed, "That boy is going to be under a lot of stress, and he needs you to be there for him, more than you know."

"Why me? I don't know if you have noticed but I'm not the most comforting person."

Ivy narrowed her eyes, "Don't think I didn't see you two holding hands on the couch." Derek went to say something, but she shushed him. "Ah ah, don't deny the chemistry. The only person who doesn't see it is him."

Derek sighed, "I know." He swung back and forth on his heels. "I forgive you." He said to her.

Ivy's face softened, "Really?"

"That much that you can come and see her once or twice, if you want? After everything is over." He said.

"That would be amazing," she beamed. "Thank you so much."

"No problem." He turned on his heels. "Thank you for the information."

"Your welcome."

With a final nod, he strode back to the car where Stiles was still stood, the blue sparks dancing around his hands, "Come on," Derek unlock the car, "let's go home."

* * *

It was midday when they arrived back at home. Derek had called Boyd and Cora to close the café and come home so there could be a pack meeting once they arrived. They had a lot to say and not a lot of time to do something about it. They recalled everything when everyone was there, and the silence was stunning afterwards. So, Stiles decided to take matters into his own hands.

"I need Erica, Cora, Boyd and Isaac, plus Jackson, Scott and Derek until I need you to drive us around town, on research," He started. "Find everything you can on Tiberius Whittle. Weaknesses, strengths, I want to know everything. Also, look after Harley. Don't you dare let her out of your sight. Allison and Lydia, you can help me." He left the room and went straight to his room, bringing back down several bags with him and a map. He gestured for the girls to follow him outside.

Thankfully it was a sunny day, so they could work outside away from the rest. The girls would need their concentration for what Stiles wanted them to do as one slip up would mean it won't work.

Stiles placed the bags and map on the floor, opening the several bags that contained different things. He sat on one side of the bags whilst Lydia and Allison sat on the other side, "In today's lesson, we will be learning how to make wards." 

"I just finish school," Allison sighed.

"Oo," Lydia squealed. "I've always wanted to learn how to make these."

"Well, there's no time like the present." He said. He handed then each a little brown cloth bag with three arrows on the side. 

"What do the arrows represent?" Allison asked.

Stiles pointed at the left one, "To ward away evil," then to the right one, "to protect," and then to the one facing down, "to maintain peace."

"Didn't leave anything out there, did you?" Allison remarked.

"Nope." Stiles half smiled. "Okay, let's get to the actual ward part. To make the wards strong and durable, you need these specific things, with their specific measurements, to go into the bag."

"I'm so sorry if I fuck this up." Allison said, glancing between the many bags in front of her.

Lydia hushed her, "No you won't. Just focus and remember what Stiles has to say."

"It actually isn't that hard," Stiles started. "Firstly, in this first bag is mountain ash. You only need a small handful of the ash in each bag. Then, in the next two bags, are the flowers Verbena and Hamamelis. You need one flower from each bag. Then, in the next bag is sage. Four leaves are all that are needed per bag. Finally, in the last bag there is crushed up amethyst. You only need one crushed part. Got that?"

The girls nodded. He watched them do it for the first time, then carried on with the rest. They were soon done, all 15 complete within 20 minutes. "Have you told Jackson?" Stiles asked as he tied the last bag, placing it beside the rest of them.

"Not yet," Lydia responded, "so keep quiet."

"Ahh I'm so excited!" Allison exclaimed.

Stiles grinned, "I'm going to be the best uncle, you watch. We're going to conquer the world."

"Are you now?" Lydia raised an eyebrow.

"Me and the children are going to create an army, which everyone will fear, and we'll rule the world." 

Lydia sighed at his antics, "Well, I now know who will babysit the kids on date night." 

Allison smirked, "I don't think Derek would be too pleased to have loads of children running around his house."

"Oh, he'll get over it." He said without thinking. He then paused, addressing their smug looks. "Oh fuck, I put myself right in that one didn't I?"

"Definitely." Allison said.

*_meanwhile_*

"Are they actually talking about having kids?" Isaac question from where he was sat on the couch next to Cora, laptop on his lap.

"Yep." Boyd mumbled, not taking his eyes off the computer in front of him and Erica. Scott and Jackson were stood at the window, peering through the curtains whilst Derek lent against the wall beside them.

"Allison wants two children." Scott mumbled.

"Lydia wants four!" Jackson stated. "I can't deal with four children."

"You can barely handle yourself Jackson." Erica commented. She then sighed, "You know it's rude to listen into other people's conversations."

Scott glanced at her through the corner of his eye, "They're talking about Children, Erica. Last time I checked, it takes two to make a baby and we happen to be that other person!" Erica just rolled her eyes at him.

"By the sounds of it," Isaac said, "Stiles is going to have a big werewolf army."

"Derek I hope your prepared for a house full of kids," Cora smirked, "seen as though Stiles is offering his babysitting duties." Derek glared at her briefly but didn't say anything. 

"Stiles hasn't said how many he wants..." Scott trailed off. "Wait, never mind he wants- wait, is he being serious?"

"16?" Jackson laughed. "Oh boy, he better be joking, or you may need a bigger house."

*_meanwhile_*

"16? You can't be serious." Lydia asserted.

Stiles lent forward, whispering, "No, but the boys are at the window so I'm just exaggerating."

Lydia glanced and most certainly they were. "Well then, I want 10 then." Lydia made sure she was loud.

"12 sounds better." Allison said. She glanced at Scott, a look of horror on his face, and burst out laughing. Lydia quickly joined in, them giggling away whilst Stiles turned towards the window.

"You could be a little more supple!" He shouted. The boys exchanged a look of guilt. He turned back to Allison and Lydia, "I swear they think we're dumb."

Lydia tutted, "Boys. Bar you, you're a pleasure to be around."

"Many thanks," Stiles huffed. "Anyway, enough baby talk we have jobs to do." He stood up and hauled the bags containing the ingredients in up onto porch. He opened the front door slightly, "I don’t know if you have already heard but you can help us out now.” Stiles wandered back down the porch steps. 

He sat back down, unrolling the map as the boys shuffled out of the house. They stood around them, their heads low. Stiles, Lydia and Allison exchanged a smug look knowing full well they won. “Right, Lydia and Jackson you take these points,” he pointed at five points around the outskirts of the preserve. “Scott and Allison, you go to these points and me and Derek will do the rest. Make sure you dig a hole and place the ward inside it the cover it back up. Then I’ll active them when I get back.”

The front door clicked open, “Remember,” Erica shouted from the door, “it’s date night so be back for 4, the table is booked at 6.”

Stiles lifted his head, giving them a confused look, “Date night?” 

"We better get a move on then." Jackson said, helping his girlfriend up. 

"We'll text you when we're done." Allison smiled briefly then turned on her heels, wandering off into the woods with Scott.

Stiles stood up, giving Derek a still baffled look, "Date night?"

Derek sighed, "I'll explain in the car." He picked up a shovel as Stiles heaved the bags into the boot of his Camaro. 

Once they were off down the dirt track, Derek began to explain, "Every 2nd Wednesday all of them, including Cora and Isaac recently, go out. Each pair takes turns in choosing a place to go, however obviously it's the first one in months that everyone is together, so Erica and Boyd have planned something special. I don't know what though."

"So they leave you alone in that _big_ house for one night?" Stiles questioned.

"I have Harley." He mentioned.

Stiles hummed, "Well, you don't just have Harley anymore." 

Derek glanced through the corner of his eye at Stiles, "I don't?"

"Nope." Stiles grinned. "After we've done this, will you drive me to my dad's? I need my laptop to respond to some emails later on." Derek nodded, ignoring the fact that once everyone was out and Harley was in bed it would just be him and Stiles. 

It only took two hours to do the wards, but Stiles couldn't ignite them seen as though the others hadn't told him they were finished. So, they made their way to the Sheriff's house so Stiles could collect his things. 

Derek pulled up outside the house, turning the engine off. "Papa's homes," Stiles peered at Derek. "You coming in? Dad will be happy to see you."

"Sure." They strolled to the house, Stiles clicking the door open.

They found the Sheriff lounging on the couch watching the baseball game. He caught sight of them and smiled, "Hey Derek."

Stiles raised his eyebrows, "Hi dad, I'm fine thank you."

Noah raised his eyebrows back, "Hi Stiles, the son I see every day. I'm fine by the way," He turned back to Derek. "Come and watch the game Derek, we haven't properly talked in a while."

Derek sat on the couch opposite the Sheriff and they started talking like Stiles wasn't stood there, his mouth agape. He wasn't used to seeing his dad and Derek like this; it seemed like during his time away, they somehow came close.

Stiles threw his hands up and paced up the stairs to his room. He quickly packed away his laptop with all the paperwork he needed to sign off his book. It was surreal that the book he had been working on for the past year and half was about to published for the world to read on Friday. Anxious wasn't the word to describe how he felt.

He jumped down the stairs, dropping his bag on couch beside his dad. He left them alone and went into the kitchen, sorting through the cupboards to find anything edible. Once he found a packet of chocolate stars hidden behind a jar of jam, he plonked himself on the couch, watching the baseball intensely.

He didn't know a lot about baseball, nevertheless his favourite team was playing so he only cared if they won or lost and no one was hurt by the end of it. "Pedicabo." _Fuck_. He cursed as the other team scored a run.

"Stiles," Noah said on warning tone, "language."

"Sorry Pops." He mumbled, not taking his eyes off the T.V screen. Stiles phone buzzed in his pocket twice, signalling that the wards were done. He dragged his eyes away from the baseball, "We better go." 

Noah rose from the couch with them, stepping towards the door with them. He grabbed hold on Stiles' shoulder, "Be safe okay?" 

Stiles half smiled, "We will be Pops."

Noah huffed out a long breath, "Love you, kid."

"Love you more." Stiles briefly pulled him into a hug. Derek idled in the doorway, feeling like he was ruining the moment. 

Sheriff looked up at Derek, "You too."

"Don't worry about me," Derek told. "I'm fine."

"Said millions when they really weren't." 

Stiles sighed, "Come on, we can't leave Harls on her own."

"Go on," the Sheriff patted Derek on the back. "Don't let me keep you."

"See you later dad." Stiles waved over his shoulder as he strode to the car, bag slung over his shoulder.

Now, who's ready for the longest night of Stiles' life?

* * *

“Daddy!” Harley ran up to her dad, jumping into his arm as soon as he rambled through the door.

Derek picked her up, “Hey sweetheart.”

“It’s my birthday tomorrow!” She exclaimed, messing with Derek’s hair. “I’m getting old, like you!”

“Old? You’re not old,” Derek said, “and neither am I.”

Stiles appeared beside then, “Are you sure?”

Derek rolled his eyes, “Shut up.”

Harley giggled at them, “Daddy’s getting old.”

Stiles couldn’t help but laugh, “I have never loved a child so much.”

Derek sighed and put Harley down, “Do you want some dinner?” He asked her. She nodded immediately. “Come on then.” Harley waddled into the kitchen whilst Derek turned his head to Stiles. “Are you going to do it now?”

Stiles let his bag slid off his shoulder and onto the floor, “Yeah. Better to get it over and done with.” He walked back out of the house and out into the front yard, sitting on the floor once again. He went over the spell a couple of times, so he didn’t do it wrong and mess everything up.

“Right Stiles, you can do this.” Stiles whispered to himself, the blue sparks beginning to spark around his hands. He put both of his hands to the ground, “Tueri, defendere, includere.” _Protect, defend, enclose_. His magic bled into the ground, multiple blue lines flowing through the wood, meandering around the trees. It was fascinating to watch what he was capable of doing.

“Tueri, defendere, includere.” He repeated, speeding up the process. He held his hands to the ground, the magic running down his arms and into the earth. He waited till he got some sign it was done; apparently, it was obvious it was done so he just sat and waited. 

And there was the sign. Stiles jolted, his magic shaking him for one last final shot. Then, Stiles looked up the sky just as a blue translucent wall shot up from the ground all around the preserve, disappearing in a matter of second. That was definitely obvious. Stiles took his hands off the ground, the river of blue dispersing with his magic. Stiles flopped backwards, lying on the floor, a giddy smile on his face.

Scott suddenly peered over him, “Are you okay?”

“That,” Stiles took a deep breath, “was amazing.”

Erica appeared on the other side of him, “It was fascinating, Stiles.”

“You can say that again.” Scott stuck his hand out. “Let’s get you up, they all think you’re hurt.”

Stiles grabbed Scott’s hand, hoisting him up off the soil. “I need coffee, and a lot of it.”

“Already on it,” Cora came to the front door, a cup of coffee in her hand.

“You angel.” Stiles wavered for a couple of steps but regained his balance to grab the coffee of her. He turned to go into living room where the rest were. They were all dressed up, nothing too fancy or formal but it still didn’t look like they were going to any old restaurant. “Don’t you all look dashing. Anyway, where are you going?”

“We don’t know,” Isaac said. “Boyd and Erica only said that we had to dress semi-formal, to pack an overnight bag and follow them in the car.”

Stiles nearly chocked on his coffee, “Overnight?”

“Yeah,” Erica came up beside him, “but we’ll be back for Harley’s birthday in the morning.”

Boyd looked at his watch, “We better get going.”

They all filed out of the door, Lydia being the last out. She paused and glanced at Stiles, “I’m going to tell him, so you can tell Derek tonight, so he isn’t left out.” She winked and shut the door.

He ambled into the kitchen, pushing himself onto one of the highchairs. Harley was sat beside him, fiddling with a unicorn teddy, whilst Derek was boiling pasta. "What was Lydia on about?" Derek asked.

"She's pregnant." Stiles told him.

Derek spun around, "Really?"

"Yeah," he answered, "although don't get any thoughts, I've bagged God father."

"Of course you have."

"What? We're-"

"Going to conquer the world?" Derek finished his sentence. "I heard."

"We are!" Stiles looked at Harley. "Aren't we Harls?" 

"Yeah!" She shouted, lifting up her unicorn.

Derek sighed, scooping some pasta into a bowl, sliding it across the table to Harley. "Watch, it's hot." She dropped her teddy and picked up a fork, gently blowing on the pasta to cool it down. "Do you want some? I made too much."

"Sure." Stiles said. Derek plated one for them both and they sat in peace, well that was when Harley wasn't asking random questions about babies. Stiles nearly erupted in laughter a couple of times due to the things she was coming out with, and the look on Derek's face was priceless.

Afterwards, Stiles went to get changed into something more comfortable and have a shower. He then sat in the living room, sorting out emails, signing and agreeing/disagreeing to the dozens of emails crowding his inbox.

Harley came and sat beside him just as he finished. Her hair was braided, and she was wearing space themed PJ's. "What you doing?" She questioned, looking between the paperwork and the laptop.

"Work." He said as he shut down the laptop.

"What work?" This girl was full of questions.

"On my book." 

"Your book?" She gasped. "You wrote a book? What's it called?"

"I can't tell you that till Friday." He told her.

"Awh," she whined.

"I'll give you a clue," he leaned forward like he was telling her a very special secret. "It has the word 'stars' in."

She bounced up and down, "I love the stars!"

"So do I." He said, sliding his laptop and work back into his bag. She suddenly shrunk behind Stiles, hiding her face in his side. He furrowed his eyebrows, then turned his head to the doorway. _Oh_.

"I thought you were going to get Dizzy?" Derek stood with his arms crossed. He had never looked more like a dad than then.

"But I want to watch Guardians with Stiles." She complained, not moving from Stiles' side. "Please daddy, I promise I'll sleep afterwards if that man isn't there "

Stiles instantly stared down at her, "What man?" Harley didn't move. He manoeuvred around on the couch, lifting her up into his lap making her look at him. "Harley, what man?" He asked softly.

"The man in my dreams." Harley said quietly. Derek made his way beside Stiles, silently sitting down.

"And what does this man do?" 

"He does nothing," she whispered. "But his does have red around his hands. And...and there is other people around him too."

It felt like he was being stabbed right in the heart. She was having the _same_ dream as him.

"Hug?" He didn't have to ask twice as she threw her little arms around his neck. He hugged her tightly, resting his cheek on the top of her head. "Do you want to watch the movie?" She nodded slightly, not moving from Stiles.

So, Derek put on Harley's favourite film, 'Rise Of The Guardians', and they sat on the couch, Harley slotted between him and Stiles. She fell asleep towards the end, so Derek put her to bed whilst Stiles turned everything downstairs off. 

It was weird, how quiet the house was without everyone being there. It felt... lonely. He didn't know how Derek did this for one night every two weeks; he'd go insane if he was alone in a house this big for one hour.

Stiles lay on his bed, starring out of the sky light. He couldn't sleep now knowing that Harley was having the same dream he was. His heart ached for the girl; no three-year-old should have to go through what she had. He couldn't do anymore to help her, all he could do it to try and protect her at all costs.

He had to talk to Derek, he had to discuss a plan to protect her and them all whilst playing life as normal as possible for Harley's sake. And then there was the problem of him being in Derek's room, alone, with him. He probably would do something stupid and kiss him and then everything will be a disaster. 

Oh sack it.

He hoped off his bed, swinging his door open. He then hesitantly knocked on his door, swinging back and forth on his heels. It only took a couple of seconds before the door opened, revealing a wide-awake Derek.

He opened the door wide. Stiles scurried in, Derek gently closing the door behind them. He sat on his bed as Stiles paced around the room.

"I-I can't just lie," Stiles started, "in that room knowing that she dreaming the same thing I am. She's three and she is dreaming something that is going to be permanently implanted in her brain for the rest of her life."

He perched himself beside Derek on the bed, throwing his hands up in frustration. "How does she even function? Her smile rarely leaves her face. And there's me, 21 but can't get more than three hours of sleep without waking up breathless or in tears." He looked up to Derek, the tears pricking behind his eyes. "How does she do it?"

"I don't know." Derek said softly.

Stiles swung his legs onto the bed. He sat there, trying to keep his composure, "We need a plan. Either we do it now, or Friday after Harley's birthday. For everyone's protection. We're not going in blind like we usual do, it's too much of a risk."

"Friday," Derek agreed. "When everyones back home."

"Okay." Stiles said. He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes.

"Do you want a hug?" Derek asked out of the blue.

Stiles huffed out a little laugh, "Yeah." It didn't take a second for him to wrap his arms around Derek's waist, his head resting on his chest.

Derek draped his arms around Stiles' neck, his chin resting on the crown of his head, "That's the first time she has ever said that." Derek murmured.

"Really?" 

"Yeah," he said. "We've all tried but she never told us."

"I wonder why." Stiles said quietly.

Derek took a deep breath. He had the sudden urge to tell Stiles _everything_. They were alone, the pack weren't there to earwig, and he couldn’t hide his feels, _emotions_, away anymore. "I have something to tell you."

"Go on then," Stiles mumbled. "I'm not moving, I'm too comfortable."

Derek was struggling to form the right words, "Please don't hate me - don't interrupt me either - once I've said this." He took another deep breath. "I really like you, and I don't mean in the friends way." 

There was silence. Stiles tightened his hold on Derek, the words caught up in this throat, "I _really_ like you too." He whispered. He was pretty sure Derek could hear his heart going at a million to one. 

Derek let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Stiles, let go of me." Stiles shook his head. "Stiles. Let go."

Stiles gave in and loosening his hold, just enough to gaze up to Derek. He smiled weakly, "Bet you weren't expecting that. I definitely wasn't expecting it."

Derek had no words. He didn't know what to do to be honest. What he was expecting was far from what he received, which made the situation even harder to believe. "I'm going to kiss you." 

Stiles completely let go, "About bloody time." He threw his hands behind Derek's neck, pulling him down so their lips could finally meet. He swore sparks began to dance around his body as they deepened the kiss, their mouth's gliding over each other. It was desperate and much overdue. 

Stiles pulled back, his eyes firmly close. He pressed his forehead to Derek's, out of breath but still grinning mischievously. "You don't understand how long I have waited for _that_."

"I think I do," Derek's voice was hoarse. He took a long breath, "Stay?"

Stiles opened his eyes to be met with Derek's emerald one. He brought his face back a couple of inches, reaching up to push Derek's hair back from his face. "Always."

And for the first time in month, Stiles slept peacefully. And so did Harley.


	6. Where's Stiles?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see :)

_"And when it started to get dark you pointed to the sky, and told me there was a star for everything you loved about me."_

**\- Lauren Oliver**

* * *

"Sir, is it time?" 

The black-haired man slowly lifted his head to glare at the boy stood in the doorway, "How many times do I have to tell you, Leo. After the full moon." He slammed his hand on the table. "Now go and do something useful."

Leo quickly darted out the room causing the woman, sat beside the man, to tut, "Do you have to be so harsh, Ty?"

Ty ran a hand through his spiked hair, "The more they fear, the easier to get them to do my dirty work, Jennifer."

"How inspiring."

Feet clattered towards them, heavy on the concrete floor. A short, blue haired girl rushed in, halting at the end of Ty's desk. "Mr. Whittle, I'm afraid I have some bad news."

He sat up straight in his chair, "What is it?"

"It's the Hales," she said. "They know you want the girl."

* * *

Derek didn't want to get up. Stiles' head was resting on his shoulder, sound asleep; the last thing he wanted to do was to wake him. Nevertheless, he had to get up; it was Harley's birthday after all. Plus, he didn't want Cora to wake him, only to find Stiles in his bed. She'd be so smug about it.

He gently lifted Stiles' head off his shoulder and back onto a pillow, quietly sliding out of bed to get changed. Stiles was still asleep when he finished, so he soundlessly left the room.

Once downstairs he began setting up, putting up birthday banners everywhere. He lay out a few of the present's the pack had bought Harley and then headed towards her room.

When Derek opened her bedroom door, she was stood in the middle of her bed, spinning her little solar system model hanging from the ceiling. She caught sight of him and beamed, jumping up and down on her bed, "It's my birthday!"

"I know," he smiled. "Why don't we get you changed, and then we can open present's?" 

"Yes!" She cheered, jumping off her bed.

Derek got her changed her from her space pyjamas to jeans and her favourite plaid shirt. Harley wouldn't keep still, though he didn't know if that was from excitement, or if it was because she had her first full night's sleep in weeks.

Harley ran down the hallway whilst Derek strode behind her. She still struggled with the steep stairs, so Derek whisked her down them, her giggling away. He placed her down just as the front door swung open, Cora ambling in. "Auntie Cora!" 

Cora swung Harley around, "Happy birthday sweetheart!"

The rest gathered in, wishing her a 'happy birthday' causing her smile to brightening. 

Harley shuffled up to her dad, "Where's Stiles?" 

"Yeah," Erica threw her bag on the floor, "where is Stiles?"

"Still asleep." He said blankly, not wanting to give anything away.

"I'll go and wake him then." Allison said.

Derek shook his head, "No, I'll go." He began walking backwards towards the stairs.

"Don't worry-" Allison hoisted her bag onto her shoulder "-I'm going upstairs anyway. It's only another flight of stairs."

"But-"

Lydia raised her eyebrows, cutting him off. "Is there something you want to tell us?" Derek didn't say anything. "I'm going to get him."

"So am I." Erica and Allison said in unison, following Lydia. 

Cora patted her brother's shoulder on the way past, "You should just say it how it is; nothing ever gets past us girls."

"Shut up." He growled. This was the last thing he needed.

Once they reached Derek's and Stiles' floor, Cora barged through Derek's door. "Rise and shine." Cora shouted; startling Stiles' awake. The girls exchanged smug expressions as Cora drew the curtains back.

The light streamed in, blinding Stiles, "Are you taking the fucking piss?" 

She drew the covers back off him, "No, I am not."

His sight adjusted to the light as he sat up on the bed, rubbing a hand across his face. He then paused, realising that he wasn't in his bed, he was in Derek's...

_Shit_

His looks quickly shifted to the girls who were gathered by the doorway, sly smiled on their faces.

Cora pulled him up, "Go get changed, there is a birthday girl waiting for you downstairs."

Stiles sighed and trudged out of the room like a teenager who had just been caught doing something he shouldn't have done. He pushing his own room door open, not even giving the girls a second glance.

"I knew it would work!" Erica exclaimed as she entered behind him.

Stiles stared at his closet; his head too messed up to even pick out something to wear. "What would?" 

Lydia came beside him, gliding her hand over his clothes. She picked out a plaid shirt and threw it over his shoulder, "Date night of course."

"I don't understand." 

Lydia pushed a pair of jeans and socks to his chest, "We all went out in hopes of you two realising your undying love."

Stiles tiredly rubbed the back of his neck, "I should have seen that coming." He lumbered into his bathroom before any of the girls said anything else, getting changed into what Lydia had given him

As he wandered back out, Cora raised her eyebrows, "You still smell like him."

Stiles cocked an eyebrow, "Is that so? Hang on a minute, I'll just go and roll in some flowers."

Allison rolled her eyes, "Let's just go. We don't want to keep Harley waiting."

"Of course." Stiles mumbled. He hung back with Lydia as the rest strode off, "How did it go?"

She didn't try to hide her smile, "Amazing. He was ecstatic."

"That's amazing, I'm really happy for you both." 

"Thank you." She said as they stepped off the stairs. Harley greeted them, her grin distracting him for what he was about to face.

"Stiles!" She shouted, skipping up to him.

He crouched down to her level, "Happy birthday Harls."

"Oh will you look at that!" Erica smirked. "You're both dressed the same."

Stiles looked back at Harley. As a matter of a fact, they both were. Stiles glare shifted to Lydia, "Mm, what a coincidence."

"Can we go open present's now?" Harley asked, oblivious to what was occurring. Stiles nodded, his glare altering into a soft look. "Yay!" She rushed into the living room, straight over to her gifts.

Stiles idled in the doorway, surveying over the room for a specific someone. It just happens that the specific someone was slouched in the corner of the couch, hiding behind a book.

Stiles looked amused as he made his way over to him, sitting beside him on the couch. He bumped his leg against Derek's, "Why are you hiding behind a book?"

"I can't stand Cora's smirk." Derek grumbled.

Stiles glanced to Cora. She looked like she could barrel over in a fit of laughter at any moment. He looked back over to Derek "You know they planned it all."

Derek peered around the book to look at him, "Seriously?"

Stiles hummed. He reached over and plucked the book out of Derek's hands. "Now, ignore everyone and focus on your daughter."

Derek huffed, but there was a small smile present. "Fine."

* * *

"So," Stiles sat forward on the couch, "how was last night?"

Jackson wrapped an arm around Lydia's waist, pulling her closer. "We could ask the same to you."

"But I asked first." He said. He turned towards Erica and Boyd. "How many rooms did you book last night?"

"Four." Erica answered without thinking. 

"Four?" Stiles smiled slyly. "There isn't four couples though? Three couples and two singles actually, so where did Cora, or Isaac, sleep if there was only four rooms?"

Cora and Isaac's eyes widened. It took a couple of seconds for Derek to get the actual idea and shoot forward in his seat. "I'd like to know that too." 

"That's our cue to go." Stiles stood up, scooping Harley up with one of her presents. "Shall we go and set this up?" 

She nodded, "Yeah!" 

He carried her out, smirking at Cora on the way past, "Au revoir."

* * *

Stiles set up Harley's glow-in-the-dark solar system in her room. The whole area was full of everything space; he never knew a three-year-old could be so obsessed with something so complex.

"Do you know the planet names?" Stiles question, watching as Harley span the planets around.

Harley pointed at the third and fourth planets in, "Earth and Mars. I can't remember the others."

Stiles indicated to the first planet, then continued across, "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune." Harley recalled them slowly, beaming when she finished. Stiles ruffled her hair, "See, you’re already a pro."

The door opened, Cora walking in leisurely. She shut the door and sat on the edge of Harley's bed. "He was surprisingly okay with it all, you know. Just a bit annoyed we didn't tell him sooner."

Stiles looked up to her from where he was sat on the floor, "You should have."

"Alright," Cora rolled her eyes, "I don't need enough lecture."

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"No, it's okay," She sighed. "At least we don't have to sneak around anymore."

"Bet that was hard."

"Definitely." She slid off the bed and sat on the other side of Harley. "Now, go and attend to your boyfriend. He'll need your help doing dinner."

Stiles smiled at 'boyfriend', "Jesus, that's going to get some used to."

Cora pushed Harley's hair behind her shoulders, "But it's something that has brewing for quite a while."

Stiles pushed himself up, heading out of the door, "Maybe so."

* * *

"Woah!" Stiles exclaimed as he entered the kitchen. "With all that food someone might think your cooking for the whole town." 

Derek lifted his head, pausing - whilst cutting up a potato - as soon as he heard Stiles' voice, "I basically am."

"And that's why I'm here," He grinned. "What do you want me to do?"

"You can chop the onions and carrots?" 

"Sound's easy enough." Stiles found a knife, grabbing the onions and carrots. He peeled the carrots, then diced them, chopping the onions in the process. He was hastily done, "What do you want me to do with them?"

"Just put them in a bowl for now." Derek said. 

Stiles made sure he was overly cautious when grabbing the bowl from the top cupboard. Him and cupboard doors have a mutual hatred for each other; this time he was careful and slow, meaning somehow he did not end up hurting himself.

Derek chuckled, "Still don't get along with cupboard doors?"

"I don't get along with any doors," Stiles said, scraping the vegetables into the bowl. "I don't get along with many inanimate objects." He pushed the bowl aside, lifting himself up to sit on the counter.

"You don't get along with many alive things too," Derek stated, sliding the potatoes into saucepan.

"Hey," Stiles sounded offended, "I get along with animals, just not many people."

Derek hummed, putting his hands on either side of Stiles on the counter, "Not many?"

Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek's neck, "For your information, I made several friends in England."

Derek smirked, "I kind of got that message from when we all went out. What did Scott say? Hot shot in England?”

“Please stop," He groaned. "I don't want to be reminded of that night."

"At least we all learnt one thing from that night." 

Stiles raised an eyebrow, "And what was that?"

"Alright!" Jackson yelled from the living room. "Please refrain from saying what I think you're going to say!"

"And I thought we were all bad." Erica commented, raising her voice to get her point across.

Stiles smiled mischievously, "Answer that question later on." He patted Derek on the shoulder. "Come on, go and attend to the potatoes before they go too hard." Derek tilted his head. "And that wasn't a pun."

"Sure." Derek ducked down and captured Stiles' lips, kissing him softly. The thought of a wrecked dinner perished out of his head as he slipped his hands around the back of Derek's neck, smiling into the kiss. 

"That wasn't the greeting I expected." 

They broke apart, Derek gripped the edges of the counter, glaring at person stood in the doorway. "Do you ever knock?"

"Nope."

Stiles' head fell forward, coming in contact with Derek's chest, "Peter, you have 5 seconds get out of here." 

Peter smiled smugly, "Have you not forgiven me yet?"

Stiles head snapped up towards Peter, giving him an incredulous look, "You locked me in the basement 2 days before I left for Manchester! If you can't remember, I had several panic attacks and ended up in hospital! And you still never told me the reason why you left me down there!"

Peter rolled his eyes, "The door was stuck, I've told you this before."

Stiles threw his hands up in frustration, "We're not having this argument again."

"Well then," Peter backed out of the kitchen, "I'll let you two get back to it."

Stiles turned back to Derek, giving him a questionable look, "Did you not hear him?"

Derek peered at him, raising his eyebrows, "No, I was too distracted."

"Distracted?" Stiles gasped jokingly, putting a hand over his heart. "I never thought I'd hear the day that Derek Hale got _distracted_."

"Oh shut up."

Stiles laughed, "Now go," he pushed Derek's chest lightly. "The food's not going to cook itself." Derek mockingly saluted and pushed off the counter. Stiles hopped off after him. "And I think it's time I check the preserve."

* * *

Strangely, the preserve was as quiet as a mouse. There was no sign of danger, no warning, nothing. Stiles does not think he had actually seen it that quiet before. Yet, he was still prepared for anything; something was coming, there was no doubt about that.

Stiles' head perked up, from where he was sat on the swinging bench, when he heard multiple tires grind to a holt on the gravel in front of the house. His dad hoped out of his Cruiser and made his way over to Stiles.

"What are you doing here?" Stiles asked.

Noah clambered the stairs and sat beside his son, "It's Harley's birthday." He shook the wrapped present in his hand. "Also, I'm here for dinner."

"Right."

Noah eyed the laptop on Stiles' knee, "What are you doing out here? I thought you'd be helping with dinner."

"Waiting to see how well pre-sales have been," Stiles said; he had been refreshing his emails for the past hour in hope his publisher had sent him the figures. He hadn't.

The Sheriff put a comforting hand on his son's shoulder, "I'm sure they will be good."

"I hope so."

There was a clatter of heels up the stairs catching Stiles' attention, "Why hello their stranger." 

He grinned and stood up, placing his laptop on the bench, enveloping her into a hug, "Hey Melissa."

She pulled back and gave him a once over, "Haven't you grown up?"

Stiles rolled his eyes, "I don't get it. I don't see a difference."

Melissa patted him on the cheek, "You wouldn't darling."

She moved around him to hug the Sheriff, leaving him to greet Chris and Natalie as they wandered towards him from their cars. Allison, Lydia, and Scott soon came crashing through the front door to meet their parents, dragging them into the house.

Stiles trailed behind them, placing his laptop on the shelf in the living room. He followed them into the kitchen and leant on the counter as the rest of them made their way into the back garden where everyone else was.

Derek flung a dish cloth onto the counter, "Did you get the email?"

Stiles' shook his head, "Hasn't come through yet."

There was a loud cough at the backdoor, drawing their attention towards the person in the doorway.

Noah stood with his arms crossed, his looking shifting between them both, "Living room, the both of you. Now."

_Ah, shit._

* * *

Derek and Stiles sat on opposite couches, exchanging confused looks. The Sheriff slowly lowered himself onto the couch between them, "When were you going to tell me?"

Stiles raised his eyebrow, "Tell you what? There's nothing to tell."

Noah narrowed his eyes at him, "Don't bullshit me Stiles Stilinski, or should I call you by your real name?"

"No, don't you dare!"

"Well then, I will ask again. When were you going to tell me?"

"Today." Derek answered.

"We were?" Derek shot Stiles a sharp look. "Yeah, today, obviously. And it only happened last night so it wasn't like we were keeping anything away from you." Stiles added.

Noah sighed, "It's about bloody time."

"Excuse me?"

"Come on," he glanced towards to Derek. "You basically look at Stiles like he has stars in his eyes, and you," he pointed at Stiles, "acted even worse than you did with Lydia."

Stiles spluttered, "H-how?! It's not like I told anyone."

"No, but you did in your sleep. I'm surprised the whole street didn't know."

He groaned and hid his already burning face in his hands, "You've said enough."

"Oh, I know." Noah stood up, patting his son's shoulder on the way past back into the kitchen. Stiles didn't move, he felt too embarrassed to do anything. 

"Stiles." Derek said, his voice laced with amusement. All Stiles wanted to do was to wipe that smile off his face.

"I don't know a Stiles."

Derek threw a cushion at him, "Stiles."

Stiles raised his head, "Hello?" 

Derek's smirk grew, "Hi."

"You're finding this situation highly amusing."

Derek hummed, "Guess you learn something new every day."

He narrowed his eyes, "I guess you do."

Before Derek could respond, Harley wandered in, "When's dinner ready?"

Derek tore his gaze off Stiles to his daughter, "Soon."

She rested her chin on Derek's knee, "Can I have ice cream?"

"You can after dinner."

She turned her head to Stiles, "Can I have ice cream?"

Stiles grinned, "What did the old man say?"

"Old man?"

Harley giggled, "He's not old."

Stiles glanced up at Derek who was staring at him with his eyebrows raised, "Are you sure?

She nodded, "Yeah but he said I can't have Ice cream," She paused, a huge grin forming. "He isn't the boss of you so you can still get me ice cream."

_God, I love this kid, _Stiles thought.

"Let's compromise," he said. "You eat all your dinner, and then you have all the ice cream and sweets you want."

Harley thought for a second, "Okay, but can I have a snack now?"

Derek sighed, "Fine." He stood up, following her into the kitchen but not without giving Stiles a stern look, '_we're not finished_'.

Stiles winked, '_Oh, I know_'.

* * *

It was late evening by the time the parents had gone home, and Peter had retreated to wherever. The pack were sat around the blazing fire pit in the back garden, chatting amongst themselves. Allison, Lydia, and Stiles were huddled together under several blankets on one of the chairs, whilst Harley was curled up asleep on Stiles' lap, cloaked in another blanket to keep her warm. These humans weren't blessed with built in heaters, so these cold nights weren't the best.

"Did you know Stiles can sing?"

Stiles head shot towards Erica, his eyes widening, "You caught me once!"

"I thought Shawn Mendes was in his house." 

Jackson smirked, "No way." 

Erica nodded, "Never sang since, which is kinda of a bummer as he won't do karaoke with me anymore."

"He's also really good at pick-up lines." Scott added.

"Okay," Stiles said, "so if we're exposing people, I'll start with both of you. Erica not so secretly likes to read and write love poetry, and Scott favourite singer is Taylor Swift."

"Stiles!" Erica and Scott shouted in unison, quickly silenced by Derek's glare as Harley was asleep.

He shrugged, "You get what you give." 

"I knew," Allison turned to her boyfriend, "you loved Taylor Swift after I caught you singing to her in the kitchen."

Boyd shifted in his seat to peer down at Erica who was curled up by his side, "Love poetry?"

"Shut up." She mumbled into her hands.

"Explains why I found pages of it in our room."

"Derek never used to like leather jackets." Cora blurted out.

Now it was Stiles' turn to look shocked at Derek, "You are kidding?"

"Cora..." Derek warned.

"Mom used to have to force him to wear one, it was hilarious to watch."

Derek glared at her, "I hate you." 

Cora hit him on the arm, "And I love you too."

"Isaac once spent over a thousand dollars on scarfs once." Allison told them.

"How do you know that?!" Isaac exclaimed, shooting forward from his seat.

She shrugged, "You left the receipt on the couch."

Jackson raised an eyebrow, "You know you can only wear one at a time, right?" 

"Yeah," Isaac answered, "but I can't always wear the same one."

"Jackson loves romantic movies."

"Lydia!" Jackson whispered harshly. 

Stiles laughed, "This is getting better and better." 

Lydia looked innocent, "What? It's quite obvious darling."

"It's not-"

"Stiles?"

Stiles' turned to the quiet voice that interrupted Jackson. Harley's head rested on his arm, her sleepy eyes barely opening. 

"Yeah Harls?" 

"I'm cold."

Stiles instantly wrapped the blanket tighter around her, "Do you want to go inside?" She nodded her head. "Come on then."

He stood up with the wrapped-up child, her head resting on his shoulder. He smirked at Jackson as he backed up through the back door, "I always knew you were a big sap."

He ignored Jackson's glare, instead smiling as Harley giggled against his shoulder. "What are you laughing at?"

"Jack-jack." 

"Aren't we all?" He stopped in the living room doorway. "Bed, or movie?"

"Cinderella?" 

"Good choice." He sat her down on the couch as he turned on the T.V, playing the movie. He shifted on the couch next to her as she trained her eyes on the movie. Half an hour later, Harley was crawling back into Stiles lap, falling asleep. Derek chose that moment to walk in, his face softening at the sight.

"I'll put her to bed." Derek whispered, scooping Harley off Stiles' lap.

Stiles rubbed his eyes, beginning to feel very tired himself, "I'll do last check, then I'm going too."

Derek looked hesitant to ask him something, but just nodded once and left the room. Stiles was too tired to notice, so just closed his eyes, ignited his spark, and checked the preserve, letting the energy of his magic wake him back up.

* * *

Derek put Harley to bed, the girl curling up against the covers as soon as she hit the mattress. He left a light kiss on her forehead, whispering, "Good night," as he backed up out of the room.

In all honesty, he didn't want to leave Harley alone. Not with everything going on. He didn't know what was going to happen to her, to them, to his family within the future and it _scared_ him. He was used to creatures hunting him and his pack, but not his daughter. 

Suddenly, there was a loud bang catching Derek's attention. He was alert, ready to fight whatever came his way; but when he glanced in the direction of the noise, he was barely surprised to see Stiles lay on the landing floor.

"I think I may have reopened that cut." Stiles mumbled against the carpet, making no effort to get up. "I think I may sleep here tonight actually, it's quite comfortable."

Derek sighed, "You can't stay there, you're bleeding on my carpet." 

Stiles rolled over onto his back, blood smeared across his face, "I'm fine thanks, a bit dizzy, but okay."

Derek rolled his eyes and strode over to him, grabbing both of Stiles' outstretched hands, pulling him up, "Only you can do that at a time like this."

"Sorry." He ran a hand across his forehead, smudging the blood even more. "Oops."

Derek shook his head, "Come on, let's get that cleaned up."

* * *

"Ouch."

"Shut up, you big baby."

"I'm so sorry, I totally forgot I don't have supernatural healing, I'll make sure to keep that in mind the next time I fall up the stairs."

"Do I have to remind you that most people don't fall up the stairs?"

"Do I have to remind you that I'm not 'most people'- _shit_, what are you doing, making another cut?"

Derek sighed and slipped his hand into Stiles', "W-what- _oh_." The pain vanished, travelling in black lines up Derek's arms. 

Derek shifted his look from Stiles' cut to his eyes, "May I continue?" Stiles could only hum in response.

They held gazes for a few seconds before Derek started to tend to Stiles' cut again. He smiled slightly, not taking his eyes off Derek's face.

If someone had told him six years ago that him and Derek would be in this position, he would have just laughed and told them to get a grip. They were different then, each being a potential threat to the other. Not like lanky 16-year-old Stiles could have beaten Derek, he _did_ save his life a few times, however Derek could have easily beaten Stiles with a flick of his finger. But he didn't. 

And now they were here. Stiles perched on Derek’s bathroom sideboard as Derek fussed around his cracked head, not allowing Stiles to move till he had thoroughly cleaned it. It wasn’t strange. He knew Derek cared, but not that much till last night. Clearly everyone else knew bar himself, but he was known for being oblivious to the obvious.

“What are you thinking about?” Derek asked out of the blue, noticing that Stiles' heartrate had picked up. He placed the first aid kit back in the cabinet, his hand was still firmly laced with Stiles’ and had no intention of moving.

Stiles looked away from Derek, his eyes darting to an intriguing tile on the floor, “How oblivious I was.”

They were silent for a few seconds as Derek finished clattering around the cabinet, “So was I.” He finally said quietly.

Stiles huffed out a laugh, thinking back to that afternoon with his dad. “Do I really have stars in my eyes?”

Derek put two fingers under Stiles’ chin, making their eyes meet, faces merely inches away from each other, “Did you really talk about me in your sleep?”

A blushed crawled up the back of his neck, "I-I don't know!" He stuttered. "I was asleep, how was I supposed to know. Now, answer my question."

Derek raised his eyebrows, but there was a shadow of a smile washing over his face. He cupped the side of Stiles' face, running his thumb over his cheek, "I think your dad meant it metaphorically."

"Did he now?" Stiles smirked. "So, you think I shine, stand out, am mesmerising or-"

"Shut up." He growled, closing the last remaining inches between them. Stiles smiled into it, pushing himself closer by sliding a hand behind Derek's neck, pulling them together. He tried (not really) to pull his other hand free, but Derek wouldn't let go; he stopped trying after a couple of seconds, he liked the feeling too much.

Their lips danced across each other, the years of longing and desire released in that moment. It was like fire flew through his body, his spark waking up inside of him. Sure, he had kissed people before, but they hadn't been like that. It was different, but in an absolute fantastic way.

Stiles had to pull away first, breathless and grinning like the goof he was. His stamina didn't hold out for as long as Derek's did. "Are you going to do that every time you want me to shut me up? As please continue to do so, I won't object."

Derek lent his forehead on Stiles', "You talk too much." He said breathlessly.

"You aren't the first person to tell me that Der, and you won't the last." Stiles said, yawning at the end.

Derek smirked, "Am I tiring you out?"

Stiles shook his head, "I'm just tired in general. Me and sleep haven't been getting on recently."

"Coulda fooled me."

Stiles gave him a questionable look, "Har har." 

He yawned again.

Derek pulled back, tugging on Stiles' hand, making him slide of the sideboard, "Looks like someone needs to go to bed."

Stiles waved his hand, "I'm fine."

Derek raised an eyebrow, releasing his hand from Stiles'. Stiles glanced at his empty hand, the familiar warmth disappearing as soon as it was free. That thought quickly vanished when an overwhelming headache surfaced, the sharp pain knocking his balance as he followed Derek back into the bedroom.

"The _fuck_." He held a hand up to his forehead. "Was this why you were holding my hand?"

Derek paused, halfway pulling his t-shirt over his head, and shrugged, "Maybe."

Stiles managed a small smile, "And here I was thinking you were showing affection." He then realised he was still wearing trousers and a shirt, clothing he did not want to sleep in. "I'm going to get changed." 

"Are you sure you can make it to your room in one piece?" Derek asked. Stiles didn't even need to look at him to know he was smirking.

"I'm sure I can walk across the hallway," He said as he flicked the door open with his magic, not risking any possible injuries. He didn't wait for a response as he wandered across the hall, pushing his door open.

He went straight over to his medical cabinet, shuffling through the herbs and mundane medicine to find something to help the headache. He finally found some mint leaves (which had worked in the past) and ate them to much of his tastes buds dismay.

He finished through his draws, pulling out sweatpants and an old t-shirt; flinging them on and managing not to fall over in the process. He made sure his windows were locked before he made his way out, turning the lights off in the process.

When Stiles was back in Derek’s room, Derek was fiddling around in the bathroom, so he flung himself on the bed in exhaustion – face down. He didn’t know how he’d survived on little sleep for the past months. With the long hours writing, university lectures and the recurring nightmares, sleep had been the last thought till then.

A hand pushed him over to one side of the bed, “I know your tired, but it doesn’t mean you can take up the whole bed.”

Stiles huffed, crawling under the covers, wrapping them around himself, “Shh, tis comfy.”

Derek rolled his eyes but smiled, “I’ll kick you out.”

Stiles hummed, closing his eyes, “No you won’t.”

He sighed, climbing in the bed beside Stiles. He instinctively pulled the man closer, Stiles wrapping his arm’s around Derek’s waist, resting his head on his shoulder. Derek ran a hand through Stiles’ hair, pressing a gentle kiss to his head, “No, I wouldn’t.” He whispered.

Stiles smiled against his shoulder, holding his a little tighter, “Goodnight Der.”

“Goodnight Stiles.”


	7. Whipped Cream, No Marshmallows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it keeps saying I've posted, it's most likely I am just editing previous chapters! <3

_Meet me at midnight in the forest of my dreams._

_We'll make a fire and count the stars that shimmer above the trees._"

-**Christy Ann Martine**

* * *

_The earth shook around him, disorientating his every move. He fought back despite the quake, his magic helping to steady him. He tried to look around for his pack, but everything was a big blur - figures moving past him at lightning speed. So, he just kept focus on what was in front of him, hoping his pack, his friends, we’re all okay._

_There was suddenly a bright light, halting him in his tracks. He couldn’t see a thing. The earth stopped shaking and there was an eerie silence. There wasn’t any shouting, footsteps or fighting; there was nothing but the pounding beat of his heart._

_His vision blurred. He blinked a few times, refocusing as a black figure appeared in the distance. The light then began to fade around the figure, a wood replacing it. There was no fight anymore, it was just him and the figure stood in between the trees._

_He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out who, or what, it was. It made no inkling that it was going to move, it just stared right at him._

_A hand grabbed his abruptly, startling him. He forced his stare off the figure to the person who clutched his hand. Unexpectedly, it was Harley, her gaze shifting from him, to the figure, and back to him. She had a frightened look on her face._

_“Harley?” He said, concern laced in his voice._

_“Don’t let him hurt me, Stiles,” her voice cracked. “Don’t let him get me, Stiles.”_

_He furrowed his eyebrows, “Who?”_

_She looked back at the figure who had wandered closer, still lurking a fair distance away. She faced him again, “Don’t let him hurt me, Stiles,” she repeated. “Don’t let him get me, Stiles.”_

_“I won’t,” Stiles promised, “but you need to tell me who Harley.”_

_"Daddy's gone," she continued. "Everyone's gone, Stiles."_

_He gave her a confused look, "What are you on about, no one's gone."_

_She looked behind him, her face horrified, "Everyone's gone Stiles." He followed her look and took a sharp breath, his face mirroring hers. _

_The pack, _his_ pack, were sprawled out amongst the trees. Unmoving. Dead. There was blood everywhere, body parts torn to shreds. He couldn't make out half of their faces, his heart tearing to shreds as the tears started to trickle down his face. _

_"Daddy's gone." Harley cried, her grip on his hand intensifying._

It's just a dream.

"_Daddy's gone." She repeated, becoming hysterical. "Don't let him hurt me, Stiles. Don't let him take me."_

_Stiles' head snapped back to Harley, her terrified look elsewhere. "I won't okay? I won't, we-we just-"_

_"Stiles, he coming." She became frantic, "He's going to hurt me, take me. You promised."_

It's just a dream.

_"No one's coming Harley," He tried to reach down to pick her up, but he was routed to the spot. He tried to unleash his magic, but nothing was coming. _

_"Stiles, he's here." Her voice picked up. "Don't let him hurt me, don't let him take me."_

_He glanced back at where the figure was. It was no longer in the distance; it was metres away and creeping closer and closer and closer. "Shit, no, no."_

_"You promised!" Harley screamed, her whole body shaking. "He's going to hurt me, Stiles."_

_It's just a dream_

_"No, he isn't," He tried to comfort the girl in the mist of his tears. "It's just a dream, it's not real."_

_The figure cackled, "I've waited for this moment." It's voice was rough, menacing. It was like he was being stabbed with a thousand daggers._

It's just a dream.

_"Stiles!" Harley yelled through sobs. "Stiles!"_

It's just a nightmare.

_The figure laughed, and laughed, and laughed. _

_"Stop, stop it." He whispered, unable to find his voice. "This isn't real."_

_"When is anything?" It sneered and lunged at them._

"Stiles!"

Stiles shot up from where he was lay, immediately feeling suffocated. He could feel the hot tears sliding down his face as he clambered out of bed, sliding onto the bedroom floor shaking. He brought his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them.

A light beamed into the room as the bedroom door opened. He heard, "Harley," and then footsteps scurrying around. He ignored it, soundlessly crying into his knees.

An arm came around his shoulders, pulling him closer to them. He was unaware of who it was that was holding him, but he didn't care as long as he wasn't alone.

All he could think about was that black figure. Sure, he'd seen it before in his previous nightmares, but it never talked or walked. Just stood and watched the chaos in the distance. And it _petrified_ him.

And then there was Harley.

_Harley_. 

He didn't know if she had the same dream as him, or what she was going through, but if it was same as himself... no 3-year-old should see what he saw. _No one_ should see what he saw. 

A small hand squeezed his, distracting him from his thoughts. "It's okay," he heard faintly. "It's all going to be okay."

Cora. It was Cora beside him. One of the last people he thought it would be. She was whispering nonsense to him in the hope he'd calm down, but it wasn't working. 

He managed to raise his head off his knees to glance at her. He knew he looked a mess, his eyes stinging like wasps had just attacked him. She didn't shy away, she just gave him a sad look and hugged him tighter.

Stiles swallowed, "Harley?" He said in a raspy voice.

Cora frowned, "Derek's with her." 

They stayed silent, Stiles resting his chin on his knee. He stared out of the window; it was the dead of night, the faint silhouette of the near full moon hanging between the trees. Stiles had no idea what time it was or who he'd woke up.

The door opened wider, even more light streaming in. Cora turned her head to the person in the doorway, sighing. She slid her arm away, giving his hand a last squeeze before standing up. Someone stood beside her making Stiles look up towards them, sucking in a breath at the sight of Derek with Harley in his arms.

Derek lowered himself to the floor beside Stiles where Cora once occupied, his face written with concern, worry, sadness. Harley shifted in Derek's hold, now facing Stiles. She too had been crying, her eyes puffy and red. She unwrapped her arms around Derek, trying to push off him so she could get to Stiles.

Stiles was hesitant but pushed his legs down, lifting Harley from Derek. The girl immediately latching onto him, burrowing her head in his shoulder. Stiles hugged her tightly, something he couldn't do in the nightmare.

She was okay, and that was that mattered.

"Stiles?" Harley said quietly.

"Yeah?" Stiles croaked out. The voice that left his mouth didn't sound like his; the tears were still clogged up in the back of this throat.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Stiles managed a little laugh, "I think I should be the one to ask you that, Harls."

"But-but you were hurt," she said, her voice on the edge of tears, "and so was daddy, and Cora, and-"

"Hey, shh," he whispered, holding her close. "We're all okay, I'm okay. It was all just a dream."

"I don't like my dreams." 

"Neither do I."

She yawned against his shoulder, rubbing a hand over her eyes. Derek spoke up, "Harley, do you want to go back to bed?" He asked her softly. 

She turned her head to her dad and shook it. "I want to stay here."

"Okay." He held his arms out as Harley crawled out of Stiles' lap to him. He stood up and placed her on the bed, Harley instantly curling up against the covers. 

Derek came back for Stiles. He was still slouched on the floor, his look distant as he stared through the window, "Do you want me to carry you too?" 

Stiles huffed, a little smile on his face. "No, but you can help me up and then give me a hug."

"Alright." Derek said quietly, holding his hands out for Stiles to grab hold of. 

Stiles did so, hoisting himself up. As soon as he was stood, he slid his arms around Derek's torso, resting his cheek on his shoulder. He closed his eyes tightly, not allowing anymore tears to fall. 

Derek held him close, pressing a light kiss to the top of Stiles' head, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Stiles shrugged, "Meh."

Derek sighed, "Come on." He led Stiles to the bed, letting him go. He fell back beside Harley, the little girl shuffling closer to him.

Derek took a moment to watch the two people he loved most - not that Stiles needed to know that yet - huddle together. He didn't know what they dreamt, or what they saw, but he knew their dreams were linked and tonight's had been the worst one they'd been through. 

He peered over to the doorway where Cora lingered, her worried gaze shifting from the bed to him. He made his way over to his sister, standing beside her.

"You okay?" Cora whispering, putting her hand on Derek's hand.

"Yeah," he said, not moving his eyes away from the pair. 

"I think I'll leave you to it." She said, giving his hand a squeeze.

He turned his head to her, his eyes tired yet, "Thank you."

She shook her head, "You're my brother, Der, and those two happen to be my family," She sighed. "I know I don't say it often, but I love them, and you'd anything for the people you love."

Derek managed a small smile, "I love you too."

Cora rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. She let go of his hand, "Goodnight Derek, get some sleep."

"Goodnight _mum._" He said, earning him a slap on the arm. 

He waited till she stepped down the stairs before shutting the bedroom door lightly. He hopped onto the bed on the other side of Harley, leaning over to press a light kiss to both of their foreheads. He threaded his arm underneath them, encircling them like a protective barrier. He placed his other hand on top of the covers next to Stiles'. 

Stiles inched closer to Derek, slipping his hand through his. He gave Derek's hand a reassuring clutch, then left their hands entwined. And that's how they slept for the rest of the night.

* * *

_Bleep bleep_

Stiles groaned, "Shut. Up." He reached over to his phone and smashed the alarm off.

"Why," Derek said in a deep voice, "do you even have the alarm on?"

"I don't..." Stiles trailed off: _why_ was his alarm going off? He rarely had his alarm on, only for important days about his- "Crap." He shot up, grabbing his phone. 

_8:17, Friday 3rd July._

"It's Friday." He said, trying to untangle himself out the knot of covers.

Derek raised an eyebrow, "As it is every week?"

Stiles managed to scramble out of bed, "My book is being released, you nutcase. I have a meeting at 8:30."

Harley giggled from where she was curled up beside Derek, "'utcase."

Derek rolled his eyes, "Do you need me to do anything?"

He shook his head, "No, it's fine." He strode across the room, turning to Derek before opening the door. "Do you remember what we talked about on Wednesday evening?"

Derek smirked, "We talked about a lot of things that evening."

"No, not _that_." He could feel his face heating up. "I mean, before _that_. About..." He glanced at Harley, who was away in her own world staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah. Do you want me to get the pack together?"

"For 9:30?" Derek nodded. Stiles sighed, swinging the door open. "Definitely going to need a meeting after last. Something’s going to happen, and I don’t have a good feeling about it."

* * *

"_This is pretty amazing Stiles_," his editor, Ophelia, spoke over the phone. "_I don't think a first timer has ever done so well_."

"You're joking, right?" Stiles said, surprised at what Ophelia had said. He was currently sat in his room at his desk, laptop open as he stared - shocked - at the presale figures.

"_Nope_," she said. "_Wouldn't be surprised if the book had sold copies in the 5 digits by this time next week. You're going to a rich man._"

"You can say that again," he mumbled. Stunned didn't describe how he felt. Never in a million years did he think he'd get over hundred sales, never mind a thousand.

"_Are you still okay to fly to New York in August?_" Ophelia asked.

_Shit_, he’d forgotten about that. With everything going on, that was the least of his worries. "Oh, yeah. That's fine."

"_Great_!" She exclaimed. "_Well Stiles, I'll let you get back to your hectic life. Leave everything with us, if you have any questions just give us a ring, alright?_"

"Will do," he answered. "See you in August Ophelia."

"_Bye Stiles_." 

The phone line went dead. Stiles lowered this phone, closing the tabs on his computer and turning it off. He sat back in his chair, taking in the fact that his book had actually been a success. He wasn’t sure how, or why, but he must have done something right.

He heard a faint rumble of a car engine outside, becoming louder by the second. He didn’t recognised the car, so he stood up and went to his window, peering out down the track. He didn’t recognise the sound as it wasn’t a car, it was a delivery truck.

Stiles grabbed his phone and rushed out of the room, stepping down the several staircases to the front door, “It’s mine!” He shouted as he slid to a stop outside the front door.

“We know,” Isaac said from the living room. “Elephant feet.”

Stiles stuck his middle finger up at him as he opened the front door. The delivery woman stood on the other side of the door with a large box under her arm, her fist just about to knock on the front door. Her eyes widened an inch, “Urm, delivery for M. Stilinski.”

Stiles grinned, “That would be me.” She passed the box over to him, stepping back one as he received it due to its weight. “Thank you.” He yelled as the woman strode away. He kicked the door shut and dumped the box in the dining room table with a heavy thud.

Derek looked up from where he was stood at the head of the table, pieces of paper spread out in front of him, “What’s in there?”

Stiles smiled brightly, “Well, I thought seen as though you all loved the manuscript, I’d get you all first copies.”

Erica and Scott were immediately by Stiles’ side, “Really?” They said in unison.

Stiles opened the box, pulling out a book. “Really.”

The box was pulled from him, “Have I mentioned that I love you?” Lydia said as she peered into the box, pulling out a book.

“Not enough times.”

The pack gathered around the box as Stiles slithered his way over to Derek who hadn’t moved. Derek glanced at the book in Stiles’ hand as Stiles went to hand it over to him, face down, “It’s not going to bite.”

Derek rolled his eyes and plucked the book out Stiles’ hand, turning it cover up. It was a forest at night, stars scattered across the night sky. The full moon hung between the trees in the dark blue sky. A single girl stood at the bottom of the cover, her back only visible as she stared off into the forest. Her brown hair flowed down her back as blue sparks encircled her hands. It was very… enchanting.

However, it was the title that surprised him the most.

“_’The Stars In Her Eyes’_,” Boyd hummed as his eyes flicked over the cover. “Isn’t that something along the lines of what your dad said yesterday?”

“Yeah,” Stiles said, “but it came to me in a dream a couple of months ago. It just seemed fitting.”

"Another vision then?" Jackson joked, but Stiles visibly tensed.

"You know my visions aren't fairy-tales and sunshine, right?" He barked suddenly. The whole room fell silent and he adverted his eyes away from everyone.

"You've had another one," Allison said quietly. "Haven't you?"

Stiles didn't try and hide it. He closed his eyes, and everything came rushing back: the death, the cries, the voices. It was inevitable. "It was bad."

"Why didn't you wake us?" Erica asked concerned.

Stiles' head snapped up face them, "Because I was scared. Everyone was dead, and-and there was only the two of us and it all happened so quickly that once I woke up, it still felt like I was still there."

An arm came around his waist, pulling him towards them. Stiles lent into Derek, resting his head on his shoulder.

"Who's the second one?" Lydia inquired, sliding into one of the chairs.

Harley chose that time to run into the room, bouncing over to Stiles and Derek, "What's going on Daddy?" 

"We're having a conversation." Derek said.

Harley nodded once and with all her little might pulled out a chair. She climbing onto it and sat down, resting her chin on the table. Stiles couldn't help but smile.

"Oh," Lydia whispered. She no longer needed an answer.

Boyd peered at the papers thrown across the table, “So, I presume, that’s why you have the map of town out?” Everyone was being cautious now the child was present.

“Yeah,” Derek said, pulling his arm back to turn the map around to his pack. “The town ward’s span about 20 kilometres around the preserve, the rest of town, 40 kilometres. We already have the preserve on constant observation, but the town is left unwatched. The town needs patrolling daily, either by car or foot, alongside the department who already know what’s going on. Two people at a time, take it in turns, couple of hours each.”

“The café?” Isaac questioned.

“Still open,” Derek answered. “Lydia and whoever isn’t patrolling can open it, half days. We can’t be suspicious; everything has to be as normal as possible.”

“Why me?” Lydia asked.

“As you’re pregnant Lydia,” Jackson said, taking the words out of Derek’s mouth. “You can’t be put in anymore danger.” Lydia didn’t argue, just pursed her lips.

“We start immediately.” With that, everyone flooded out of the room to sort themselves out.

Stiles picked up the box, hoisting it under his arm. “I'm going out. Need to make a few deliveries and see my dad. I'll be back mid-afternoon."

"Can I come?" Harley asked, now standing up on the chair: she was still only waist height.

Stiles and Derek exchanged a look, "You can if you want too." Stiles said.

Harley nodded quickly, "Please. Can I go Daddy?"

Derek sighed, "Fine, but if anything happens..."

"We'll come straight back." Stiles said, adjusting his hold on the box so he could grab Harley and lift her off the chair, taking her hand once he put her on the ground.

"Okay," Derek said, "but you have to take my car, she is not going in your death-"

Stiles cut him off, "Finish that sentence, Derek Hale, I dare you." He threatened, but still took the Camaro keys off him.

"Be safe." Derek murmured as he pressed a light kiss to each of there foreheads.

Stiles winked, managing a small smile, "Always." With that, he tugged Harley along, who was overly eager about life, and buckled her up in the Camaro before driving down the track, the Hale House fading in the distance.

* * *

He was glad he brought Harley with him. With her non-stop chatter and contagious laughter, Stiles ended up smiling a lot more than he thought he would be. She was also a big hit with the delivery's; apparently, a 3-year-old personally delivering a book to their front door made the residents happier. 

"Who wants to go and see Aunt Lydia and Uncle Jack-jack?" Stiles questioned as he rounded the corner towards the Café.

Erica had texted him an hour ago the rota they had decided for the Café and patrols. He wasn't on the Café one, but he was on the patrol rota; specifically with Allison, who he'd been thankful for. 

Harley nodded, "Hot 'ocolate?" She asked as he pulled up outside 'Break Away'.

He stepped out of the car and opened the door where Harley was seated with grin, "Of course." She beamed as he unbuckled her from her car seat and lifted her out, pushing the car door closed.

The bell rang as he stepped inside the Café, Harley in his arms. Lydia smiled warmly at them, placing two full drinks on the counter as they made their way over to the counter, "Vanilla latte, 2 sugars, and a hot chocolate, whipped cream, no marshmallows."

Stiles raised his eyebrows, "I'm not even going to ask." He put Harley down and told her to find a table as he grabbed the drinks, "Thanks Lyds."

"You're welcome." 

Harley picked the table closest to the counter, sitting patiently for her drink. Her eyes lite up when Stiles placed the drink in front of her, immediately scooping up the cream with her hands and licking it off. 

Stiles stared at her for a moment before sipping on his coffee, "Does your Dad allow you to do that?"

She shook her head, pausing as she looked a Stiles, "Are you going to tell him?"

Stiles grinned, "No." She mirrored his expression and continued doing what she was previously doing.

Lydia slid into the seat beside Harley, leveling Stiles with a stern look, "Derek's going to tear a strip off you when he finds out."

Stiles wiggled his eyebrows, "In what way?" Lydia kicked him under the table. "Ow, okay! How is he going to find out anyway, I'm only letting a toddler be a toddler."

"Jackson took a photo and sent it to the group chat," She said.

Stiles raised hand and flicked his fingers, magically flicking Jackson in the side of the head, "The _hell_, Stilinski!"

"Deserved it."

Lydia rolled her eyes, looking at Harley "Boys." She mumbled. "Don't ever get involved with them." Harley giggled, cream across half of her face.

"Anyway," Lydia turned back to Stiles, "how are you?"

"Better," Stiles said, gulping down his coffee. "This little one has helped a lot."

"Good." 

"Have you got your phone?" Jackson questioned as he sat beside Stiles.

"No, I left it at home. Why?"

Jackson passed his phone to Stiles, "Read the group chat."

Stiles gave him a suspicious look but still glanced at the still buzzing chat.

Group chat: _Awoooo_ 🐺

Jackson: _[Picture attached]_

Erica: _oh my GREATNESS that is 🥺_

Allison:_ I have never seen such a soft image in my whole life_

Cora: _and we live with Isaac_

Isaac: _not funny_

Erica: _someone frame it_

Derek: _I'm already on it_

Derek: _but I'm going to tear a strip off you Stiles, why is my child eating cream with her hands?_

Scott: _tear in what way 😏_

Isaac: _what was that loud bang_

Allison: _Scott's just 'fallen' down the stairs _

Jackson: _Stiles just said the same thing when Lydia told him_

Erica: _Stiles better hide when he gets home if that's the reaction Scott got_

Cora: _but the difference between Scott and Stiles is that Stiles can actually say that type of shit_

Derek: _I hate you, get out of my house_

Cora: _I regret nothing _

"Oh my God," Stiles said, his face heating up. "I'm never going back."

"Awh, what ashame." Jackson deadpanned.

Lydia kicked him under the table, "Ignore him." They glared at each other from across the table.

Stiles raised an eyebrow, glancing between them, "I do that anyway." Jackson tutted, snatching his phone off Stiles. He rose from his seat and went back around to the counter to serve a customer.

"Where," Lydia diverted the conversation, "are you both off to next?"

"Dad's," Stiles said. "Have a couple of things to drop off so I thought we could give him some company."

"Well then," she pushed herself up, "I'll let you both go."

Stiles downed the rest of his coffee, noticing Harley had finished her drink whilst they were talking, "Thank you Lyds." He said as he placed the cups on the counter.

"You're welcome." She smiled. "And don't you dare go for your money, you're pack, it's free."

Stiles sighed, putting his wallet away knowing not to argue with Lydia, "Well then, we're off." 

"See you later Stiles," Lydia said. "Say hi to your Dad for me."

"Will do." Stiles ushered Harley out of the café, waving goodbye to Lydia. He strapped Harley in her car seat, then slid into the drivers side. "Ready?"

"Yeah!" Harley exclaimed.

"Off to Pop's we go."

* * *

"Now," Noah said as he and Stiles sat on the couch opposite each other, "I was expecting you, but not her."

Stiles glanced at Harley who was sat in the middle of the living room, occupied with a book about space he had found for her, "It was quick decision, she asked to come so we said yes."

"We?" 

"Me and Derek."

"Right," The Sheriff smirked. "You know if you both carry this on, she'll be your child too."

"I know, I don't have a problem with that," Stiles told, "but don't say 'if', there will be no 'if's'."

Noah held his hands up, "Alright, I'm only saying." He put his hands down. "Actually saying that, you have both been dancing around each other for years."

"Years?!" Stiles said.

"Four and a half to be specific," his dad hummed. "Erica told me everything when you went away."

_Mental note to have a chat with Erica..._

"Saying this," Noah said, "have you told her?" He nodded his head in Harley's direction.

"Not really," Stiles answered, "but it's not like we've been subtle about it-"

Noah cut him off with a serious look, "Stiles!"

"Dad, oh god, not like _that_!" Stiles exclaimed. "I meant I'm sure she'll catch on, she's clever for her age."

"How long has it been? 2 days? And you're already making me concerned. Do we need a chat?"

"Dad!" He yelled, making Harley look up from her book. Stiles told her it was nothing to worry about and she went back to her book. He turned back to his dad, "I do not need any chat. I'm 21, not 16."

The Sheriff smirked, "Just checking."

Stiles stood up, "With that, I'm going to get somethings from my room."

"You do that."

Harley stood up with him and dropped the book with a clatter, "Me too."

Stiles huffed, "Fine." He scooped the little girl up and left the room, ignoring his dad's look. He carried her up his room, setting her down once they were inside. 

He shuffled some papers together, stacking them on top of a couple of books. As he was folding clothes into a pile, Harley tugged at his trouser leg, "What's up?"

"Who's that?" Harley pointed to a picture on Stiles' bedside table.

Stiles held a breath. He put the clothes down and grabbed the picture, sitting on his bed. He picked up Harley, placing her on his knee, "This is my mum."

Harley gazed at the pictures, "She's pretty."

"I know." He whispered. It was a picture of 6-year-old him and Claudia, a few months before her illness took over. She would of loved Harley. It was still heartbreaking that she never saw who he'd turned out to be, "I'll take you to see her when you're old enough."

"Why can't we go now?" She questioned, looking up at him.

"It's a long way away," Stiles said, "and I can't bring myself to visit at the moment."

"Oh." Harley said. He could see her brain ticking away. She then frowned. "Is she in the same place as Daddy's mummy? At the end of the rainbow?"

Stiles eyes widened a bit, "You-you could say that." 

She hummed and gazed back at the picture. She then pushed off him and went onto the bed, collapsing on the pillow. "I tired."

And with that, the conversation changed. Stiles stared at the picture for a little longer before putting it back. It had been a long time since he had talked about his mother...

He shifted on the bed, "Do you want to go home?"

She shook her head, yawning, "I want to sleep here. Here nice."

Stiles gave her a soft look, "Okay."

"Please don't go." She said in a small voice. 

"I won't." He stood back up and finished stacking, folding and putting away his clothes, keeping a few out to bring back home.

"Stiles?" His dad appeared in the doorway, surveying the room.

Stiles looked up at him, "Yeah?" 

"Is she okay?" He gestured to Harley, curled up on the bed.

"In all honesty, I don't know." 

Noah thought for a moment, "Look kid, I know what’s going," he started, "with the both of you. From the nightmares to her biological father, you all have a lot to deal with. You know you're not alone in this fight, right? If anything was to happen like I was told, the whole town will be behind the packs back. No doubt about it. I'm here, okay? Always will be, and I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon."

Stiles managed a small smile, "I bloody hope you're not leaving, I won't survive." He trailed across the room and pulled his dad into a hug. "Thank you."

Noah pulled back and patted his son on the shoulder, "Go and get some sleep. I happen to know about last night, I'm surprised you not shattered."

"Who told you?" Stiles asked.

"Your boyfriend in a panic this morning, along with everything else." Noah's look turned serious. "Break his heart and I'll break you."

"Woah, alright dad." He stepped back. "I don't plan on it."

"Good. Now go and sleep, I'll wake you up later." Noah closed the door soundlessly, leaving him in the room.

He took his shoes off and lay on the other side of his bed as quietly as he could. He lay there, staring at the ceiling, not able to bring himself to sleep. He was about to give up when Harley rolled over and latched onto him, burrowing her head in his chest,

"I'm scared." She whispered.

Stiles sighed and put an arm around her, "Me too Harls, me too."

There were no more words as Stiles closed his eyes, wishing the nightmares away. He held her close, not wanting to drag her into this war that was about to happen. But, it was inescapable. They were going to go to war over her, a 3-year-old child, as a psychopath wanted her magic. 

In that moment, his eyelids slid shut, drifting into a sleep, thoughts of giving himself up for her life on his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Every bit of support is much appreciated :)


	8. So Dramatic

"_And as you sit there, thinking of everyone's feelings but your own,_

_You wonder if the moon comes up at night so the stars don't feel alone._"

**-rmk **

* * *

"It's 4pm-" Derek said as he paced up and down the living room "-why aren't they home?"

"Maybe they're held up," Isaac suggested, his full attention on his Alpha. 

"They'd already finished the deliveries when they arrived at the Café at 1pm," Lydia told. "They were off to Noah's afterwards."

"3 hours since they were last seen," Derek stated. "Great, that calms me down so much."

"Have you tried ringing Noah?" Erica asked, sitting on the couch beside Lydia.

Derek stopped pacing, "No."

"Well," Erica said, "you better go and call him before you put a hole in the floor."

Derek shot her a glared, grabbing his phone out of his pocket. He scrolled through his contacts and pressed on '_Sheriff_', it immediately dialling.

"_Hello_?" Noah answered after a few rings.

"Where's Stiles and Harley?" Derek questioned, ignoring the formalities.

"_Calm down kid_," Noah laughed. "_They're both here, asleep, in Stiles' room. Checked on them 10 minutes ago._"

"Oh," Derek said quietly. "Are they okay?"

"_Well, that's a hard question to answer_." Noah sighed. "_I'm not waking them up, but if it makes you feel better, you can come over and see for yourself._"

"Thanks, I'll be as quick as I can." Derek put the phone down, pocketing it.

"See," Isaac said, "they're fine."

Derek rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

"Come on," Lydia stood up, picking up her car keys, "I'll drive you there."

* * *

Derek had been to Stiles' childhood home more times than he could count, but he had only entered through the front door once. 

It was the day Stiles' had left America. He couldn't bring himself to say goodbye when the rest of the pack had, so he had turned up at Stiles' house mere minutes before he was due to leave. 

It was also the first time they hugged. Derek didn’t consider himself an affectionate person, but as soon as they said their final goodbyes, he couldn't help himself. 

_It isn't forever Derek_, Stiles had said with a grin. He had rolled his eyes and hugged the boy tighter. Three years is a long time to be away from a person you love, even if it wasn't in the way he loved him now.

To say the least, Noah was slightly taken back at the sight of Derek at his front door and not in his son's room. He beckoned him in silently, watching as he trudged through the door. 

"Nice to see-" the Sheriff said as he closed the door "-that you've finally learnt how to use the front door."

Derek idled in the hallway awkwardly, humming in response. He glanced between the stairs and Noah.

Noah sighed and shewed him towards the stairs, "I'll make you a coffee."

Derek nodded his head once, a silent '_thank you_' before jogging up the stairs and towards Stiles' room as quietly as he could.

The door was ajar, two heartbeats becoming louder as he walked towards the room, one slightly more erratic than the other. The tension he felt simmered at the sound, his own heartbeat calming down. 

He pushed Stiles' bedroom door open quietly, peering inside. It was dark; the curtains were closed, sunlight escaping in through the gaps in the cloth. But, he could still see two figures curled up on the bed, the smaller one clinging to the other ones shirt like it was a matter of life or death.

Effectively, it was.

He etched to hold them both. To tell them that it was all going to be okay. He knew better than to lie, but sugar-coating the truth distracted him from reality and reality wasn't a place he wanted to be.

He took one last look at them before gently pulling the door towards him, leaving it open a few inches. He took a deep breath before stepping back down the hallway and stairs towards the kitchen, the heartbeats fading behind him.

Noah was sat at the kitchen table, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose as he read the newspaper, two coffee’s placed out in front of him. Derek pulled the opposite chair out and sat down, dragging a coffee cup towards himself.

“What’s got you so stressed?” Noah asked, putting his newspaper down.

Derek’s head snapped up, “What? I’m not-”

“Look, I know when someone’s stressed Derek.” Noah said taking his glasses off. “I’ve lived with Stiles who is one of the most stressed out people I know. So, tell me, why are you stressed?”

Derek stared down at his coffee, “Life.”

“I know you’re a man of few words Derek but I’m going to need more than that.”

“I don’t want to lose them Noah,” Derek started. “The nightmares are getting worse. Just seeing them both in the same room in the state they were… it was unbearable. And I know they’re visions, but if they’re _that_ bad in a dream, what are they going to be like in real life?”

Noah regarded him, a hand rubbing his chin, “Whatever is in that nightmare must be awful, Stiles doesn’t scare easily. But just remember, visions aren’t always exactly true. Depending on who influenced it on them, it’s usually an exaggeration or what they would like to happen.”

Derek thought for a moment, “Are you not scared?”

“Oh, I’m scared,” Noah said. “I’m scared as I know if he gets the chance to swap with Harley he will, and I’m not prepared to lose my son as well as my wife.”

“And I’m not prepared to lose my daughter or boyfriend.”

“We better protect them then.”

“We don’t know who we’re fighting.” Derek said then downed his coffee. “Or when, or where. We’re going in blind into a war with an enemy we know nothing about, how are we supposed to protect them?”

“Is there no one who knows this guy? What’s his name, Tiberius?” Noah questioned.

Derek nodded, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Ivy.”

“Right.” Noah said. “Well, you’re going to have to put your differences aside and go and talk to her. She seems like your only hope.”

That was the last thing he wanted to do, but he really didn’t have a choice, “Fine.”

Noah stood up, grabbing Derek’s empty mug, “Another one?”

“Please.”

“I think you’ll need it,” Noah said as he rinsed the cups out in the sink. “I have no idea when they’re going to wake up.”

* * *

It was another two hours before the first sound from upstairs came. Noah and Derek had retreated into the living room, a game of baseball playing on the TV. Although, they weren't watching the game, their thoughts were on protecting who they loved most.

It was a squeaky door opening, small footsteps clattering on to the wooden floor. Derek halted mid sentence, knowing exactly who was coming when the footsteps became irregular - Harley did struggle with stairs.

After a few moments, the little girl came bouncing into the room with a bright grin. She didn't immediately see Derek, but when she did, her grin widened, "Daddy!"

"Hey Harls." Derek said as Harley ran up to him, giving him a hug as he picked her up.

Derek heard a faint, '_oh fuck_,' from upstairs, then a ding from his phone.

Group Chat: _Awoooo_ 🐺

Stiles: _if I don't come home, your alpha has killed me_

Erica: _he's alive!_

Isaac: _but not for long_

Boyd: _he's your alpha too?_

Stiles:_ …not the point_

Cora: _if I may input, Stiles has a higher position than Derek. They __just haven't had the conversation_

Derek: _Jesus Cora_

Stiles: _brb just going to jump out of my window_

Stiles: _I'll see you in Hell ✌🏻_

Jackson: _you're so dramatic_

Derek slid his phone back into his pocket, silently cursing Cora. It had been Derek’s plan since Stiles left for England that once he got back to America, he’d ask him to be the pack’s Emissary for three reasons; Stiles was the only person with magic he trusted; it was a good, _a selfish reason Derek_, reason so that he’d never leave for a long period of time again; and he already bossed Derek around so he might as well have a title to go with it.

Then times changed and he had been to distracted to remember, never mind ask.

Stiles’ slow steps came down the stairs and towards the living room, he’s head popping around the corner with a sheepish smile. His brown hair was in a puffy messy, sticking out at every angle, “I’m sorry.” He said quietly.

Derek raised an eyebrow, “For what?”

“Letting your child make a mess,” Stiles said, “for not coming home when I said we would, for worrying you, don’t deny it, and” he stepped around the order, flinging a filled to the brim bag on the floor. Derek looked between the bag and Stiles, “I’m moving back in. Properly this time.”

Derek facial expression softened, “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Harley,” Noah said, “do you want a cookie?” She nodded eagerly, jumping off Derek. “Come on then.” He hurried her into the kitchen, leaving Stiles and Derek.

"He did that on purpose." Stiles mumbled, staring at the doorway his dad and Harley went through. 

Derek hummed, trying to keep a straight face but failing. Stiles turned to him, "Are you finding this funny? I thought you were going to shout at me or, you know, what you said in the text message.”

Derek groaned, hiding his face in his hands, “Shut up.”

Stiles wiggled his eyebrows, “No can do.” He plonked himself on the couch beside Derek, knocking his leg against his boyfriends. “You’re going to have to put up with me for a lot longer now, and a fair warning I do not shut up. Most of the time.”

“I know that.” Derek murmured, titling his head to gaze at Stiles. A lazy smirk lay on his lips, but his bed-stricken hair just made him look a hot mess. Derek was resisting the urge to push Stiles down and kiss him senseless.

“You know,” Stiles said, “you have a very expressional face when you want to.”

“I do?”

“Mm, easy to observe.”

“And what are your observations?”

“That you want this to happen.” Stiles swiftly leant over and captured Derek’s lips within his own, cupping his chin. Derek’s hand’s quickly slithered behind Stiles’ neck, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. Stiles giggled, yes _giggled_, and pulled slightly away. “I knew you wanted to kiss me, but not like _that_. Jesus Derek, my dad and Harley are next door.”

“It’s the hair.” Derek whispered, running a hand through the brown thickness. 

"It's always the hair." 

"Or your eyes."

"When they’re brown, or," Stiles eyes turned a vibrant blue, slowly returning to their normal colour.

"Don't do that," Derek said in a warning tone, his eyebrows furrowing.

"I have my answer." Stiles said smugly, flashing his eyes blue again before fully pulling away. 

There was a sudden inhuman growl rumbling from Derek's chest, his own eyes flashing blood red. Something happened inside of Stiles including a whirlwind of butterflies; he totally forgot he was dealing with an alpha werewolf two days before the full moon - he was pushing his limits.

"I'm not sorry." Stiles said carefully, half way between trying to keep a straight face and a smile. He pushed himself off the couch, ignoring Derek's stern face. "Are we going home or not?"

Derek nodded, standing up. He crept behind Stiles, leaning down so his mouth was by the side of Stiles' ear, "We're not finished." He whispered, his hot breath sending shivers down Stiles's spine. He pressed a lingering kiss on the back of his neck and took a step around him.

Stiles stood like a statue, his face heating up as he squeezed his eyes shut. He could feel Derek's breath still against his face and the pressure of the kiss - boundaries pushed.

Oh he was _fucked, _literally.

"I'm not sorry." Derek smirked cockily once Stiles reopened his eyes. He winked - Stiles melted - then stepped out of the room to retrieve Harley. 

Stiles took this moment to gather his composure. He ran a hand over his hair, using his magic to style it back to how it normal was. He waited till his face was no longer a tomato and picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

He met the others in the hallway, his dad and Derek exchanging goodbyes as Harley took chunks out a white chocolate cookie. 

Noah pulled his son into a hug, "Be safe, okay?" He said as he pulled back. "Call me if you need me, whenever, wherever."

"I will do." Stiles smiled. "I love you dad."

"I love you too Stiles."

Stiles waved his dad goodbye as he exited the house, Harley mimicking his actions. Derek took the keys off Stiles to much of his dismay, making him pout. Derek just rolled his eyes and told him to get the car.

"Stiles?" Harley said when he stepped inside the car. "Are you staying with us, forever?" She asked.

Stiles smiled brightly at her, "If I said yes, would that be okay?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Then yeah, I'll stay for as long as you all want me too."

* * *

"I see you're alive and well." Cora said as Stiles walked through the front door.

"Unfortunately," Jackson mumbled.

Stiles rolled his eyes, throwing his bag onto the wooden floor, "Just about."

Erica smirked, "Enjoy you sleep?"

"It was fabulous." He said as he fell onto the couch beside her. "Who's out now?"

"Boyd and Isaac." Lydia answered as she strode into the room, handing Stiles a cup of coffee.

"You are an angel." Stiles stated, sipping on the steaming coffee. 

"Did you get anything done whilst I was out?" Derek questioned, glancing around their cluttered living room.

Allison wandered into the room, Scott in tow, "We tried." 

"Stiles' books are all in languages we can’t read," Scott said, sitting by the side of his best friend.

"Yeah," Stiles shrugged, "of course you can waltz into my room and displace my books, not like there my prized possessions."

Scott tutted, "You and your books."

"You and your wonky jawline," Stiles retorted, taking a long swig of coffee.

"I wouldn't have a wonky jawline if you hadn't of pushed me off my bike when we were five!"

"That was Erica, not me."

"Excuse me, I-" Erica started but was cut off by Derek's heavy sigh.

"Will you stop acting like children." He said.

"If we were children, the that would make you a-"

"Do not finish that sentence Stiles!" Allison shouted.

"What has gotten into you?" Lydia inquired, giving him a questionable look.

"Sorry," Stiles apologised, "you know what I'm like before a full moon. I'm only going to get worse." 

"Oh yay," Jackson mumbled. "Definitely haven't missed you bouncing off the walls every full moon. Can we lock him in the basement?"

"No!" They all exclaimed at once.

"Dammit."

"Your personality," Cora said, "and our personality on a full moon don't bode well. We may have control, but that doesn't stop us from wanting to strangle you."

"You can try," Stiles murmured into his cup, then sighed. "Sorry, I'll shut up now." He waved his hand in Derek's direction. "Carry on my dear."

"Anyway," Derek said cautiously, "did you get anything from what you could read."

"No." Scott said.

"Well, that means Lydia and Stiles are going to have to go through them all."

Stiles closed his eyes, "Deus, da mihi virtutem."

"I think you'll need a bit more than that." Lydia said.

"Next question," Allison said. "Where's Harley?" 

"Here." Her little voice called out as she waddled into the room holding a brown book. She held it up to her dad, "Got it."

"Thank you." Derek took the book off her then threw it at Stiles, who barely caught it with one hand, the other holding his coffee. 

"Give a guy some warning." Stiles glared at him, lowering the book onto his lap.

"Read it," Derek ignored him. "History on Lilura's, but in Latin. Deaton dropped it off this afternoon. "

"Very demanding." Stiles smirked, then opened the first page. "And very fancy, this is hand written." He added, admiring the cursive writing as he flicked through the pages. "And hundreds of names, my god how big is this family."

"I find it fascinating that you can read that." Cora stated as she peered over his shoulder, baffled by the words written on the page.

"Hang on." Stiles pressed a finger to the page he was on, sparking his magic. He thought of '_English_' and the writing started to rearrange itself, the Latin now forming English words.

Cora plucked the book out of his hand with a gasp, "How the fuck did you do that."

Stiles shrugged, "I don't have blue eyes for any old reason." He stole the book back off her. "But I'm still reading it, and I'm keep it."

"Books, books and more books." Scott said again. Stiles hit him in the arm and Scott eyes flashed yellow.

"You do realise I have been around werewolves for the past 6 years. You don't scare me anymore." He turned back to the rest of the group. "Now, what's for dinner?"

* * *

"If someone interrupts my reading once more, this book will become a lethal weapon." Stiles murmured from where he was sat at his window seat.

Scott tutted from the doorway of Stiles' room, "But this is important Stiles." He barely glanced at Scott over the top of the book. "It's marriage."

He paused half way through flicking a page over, "Get in then and shut the door."

Scott ambled in, pushing the door closed, "I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean?" He said, looking up from the Lilura’s book. "She's the love of your life, shouldn't this be easy?"

Scott let out a huge sigh, collapsing onto the bed, "That's the problem. What if I do it wrong? Or she doesn't want to get married? Or if I-"

"If you keep giving yourself excuses," Stiles interrupted, "then you're never going to propose, are you?

"But what if-"

"Shut up." He put the book down and fell onto the bed beside his best friend. "Scotty, my man, let's face reality. You both have been through shit but you still love each other dearly. If Allison didn't want to spend the rest of her life with you she would of told you by now."

"She is my world." Scott hummed. 

"There you go," Stiles said. "See, everyone needs a Stilinski talk every now and then."

"You have real power you Stilinski's," Scott smiled his crooked smile. "So, when should I do it?"

"Whenever feels best?" Stiles answered which came out more like a question. "I don't know, do it when you feel the most confident. You have to be 765% sure about these things."

"Confidence is something I lack in."

"No it's not, you're a cocky little shit most of the time."

"I thought we were talking about me, not you?"

Stiles raised an eyebrow, "You're disgraceful, after everything I do for you."

Scott laughed, "Am I wrong though?"

Stiles stayed quiet for a moment, "Meh, you’re not wrong."

The door swung open, "Hey Stiles-" Erica paused half way into the room and gasped, "You're having bro time without me?!"

"It was about a very serious matter," Scott pointed out as he sat up. 

"So serious that you can't tell me?" Erica pouted.

"Incredibly."

"Wow," Erica said, "you're using big words. It must be."

Stiles clicked his fingers and pointed towards Erica from where he was lay, "And that's why you're my favourite."

"Hey!"

"Thank you my darling," Erica smirked, "but I'm sure Derek wouldn't like that."

"And now I have no favourites." Stiles mumbled, tumbling off the bed onto his feet. "Why are you here anyway?"

"Derek needs you downstairs, he can't convince Harley to go to bed."

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows, "And he wants me to help him?"

"He didn't exactly say that," She said. "He said 'God give me strength' so I thought I'd come and get you."

"As, you know, I'm the definition of a parenting 101." Stiles said sarcastically. "Okay, I'll go down and help him but I don't know what I can do."

* * *

"Harley, you need to go to be it. It's 9 o'clock." 

"But I don't wanna go." The three-year-old stated, not moving off the couch.

"This isn't up for debate," Derek told her, taking the remote control of her.

She shook her head, her eyes wide, "Daddy, no." 

Derek took a deep breath, "Harley-"

"I see someone won't go to bed." Stiles spoke as he ventured into the living room, book in hand.

"Well observed." Derek mumbled, rubbing a hand over his face.

Stiles huffed out a laugh, crouching down infront of Harley, "Someone's grouchy," He smiled cheekily. 

Derek groaned, "I said God give me strength not another child." That made Harley giggle.

Stiles shushed him, "Now, are you going to tell me why you don't want to go to bed?"

Harley went quiet and stared at her shoes, "You know why." She said quietly.

Stiles' expression dropped into a frown, "You're scared?" She nodded. 

Derek leant forward, his voice going soft, "Harls, it's okay to be scared, everyone's scared of something."

"And you're in the safest house in Beacon Hills," Stiles added, "so you're full protected."

"I don't want to sleep by myself," She said quietly.

Stiles thought for a moment, "How about you sleep in my room? It's next door to Daddy's room, would that make you feel better?"

She nodded, "But where will you sleep?"

Stiles exchanged a look with Derek, his eyebrows raised, "Urm... on the couch?"

"I don't think you want too," Cora said as she ambled in. "Peter may end up wandering in half way through the night and will be on the couch, unless..."

Stiles looked at her disgusted, "Scrap that idea then."

"Was it even an idea in the first place?"

"Can't you stay with daddy?" Harley suggested. "You did last night. Isn't that what people to...together do?" Derek froze, his eyes wide.

"That kid's got you both sused," Cora laughed, amused at Stiles flabbergasted face.

"Urm, yeah... yeah." Stiles stumbled over his words, glancing at Derek for help. 

"Shall we put you to bed then?" Derek said, directing the conversation in another direction.

Harley nodded, climbing into her dad's arm. She turned to Stiles, "It's okay to be scared."

"It's okay to be scared." Stiles repeated, his embarrassment disappearing with a small smile. 

"Night-night Stiles." 

Stiles kissed her forehead, "Goodnight darling."

* * *

Stiles lay on the couch, the Lilura's book in one hand and a coffee in the other. It was night like these he could go numerous days without sleep.

That's what happened on a full moon, his energy levels were through the room. Sitting down with a coffee and a book in university was the only way he could contain himself without being inconspicuous. It had worked for the past 3 years, why wouldn't it work now?

It wasn't.

He put his coffee down as Derek strode in, eyeing the drink, "Caffine at this time?"

He didn't say anything, just let go of the cup which made his hand shake uncontrollable.

"That usually doesn't happen."

"Nope." Stiles said, making a fist to temp to stop the shakes. "I don't know what is happening anymore, it's like I'm on drugs."

Derek hummed, perching on the end of the couch where Stiles head was, "Why are you good with children?"

Stiles looked up from the book to an upside down Derek with a grin, "You're very good at changing the conversation."

"Just answer the question."

He looked back down at his book, flicking the page, "I have a child in England."

Derek gave him a funny look, "Excuse me?" 

He flicked another page, "Yeah, his names Eccles, mum's called Thumberlina. Turns two next month, light of my life."

"Don't fuck with me Stiles."

"What? I'm not." Stiles laughed, taking one look at Derek's baffled face. "Oh my, do you actually believe me?"

"What, no, of course not."

"Mm, your face says otherwise." He peered back down at his book. "My roommate actually had a son called Eccles and I used to look after him every so often."

"You could of said that in the first place." Derek stated.

"I'm not that simple, Der."

"Don't we all know."

Derek reached over and took a hold of Stiles' shaking hand, which ceased it's tremble almost immediately.

"You know," Stiles started, glancing at their interlocked hands, "if you hold my hand, you're going to have to turn the page for me."

"Or," Derek said, "you could just come to bed?"

"And let you distract me? Pfft, I'd rather read the whole book down here and then string Peter up when he walks through the door later on. You know, one less to worry about."

Derek rolled his eyes, "That's it." He plucked the book out of Stiles hands, placing it on the table. 

"Hey!" Stiles reached to retrieve the book, but Derek grabbed his arm and swung him over his shoulder. "Put me down you fucking idiot."

"I told you what would happen." Stiles could hear the smirk laced into Derek's voice clear as crystals.

"Oh lord give my strength." Stiles whispered to himself, saying a little prayer.

"You're going to need strength after I'm done with you."

A lot of strength then.

The book was forgotten, the bickering couple leaving it behind. Stiles had gone through tens of names, none being familiar or corresponding to Harley in any way. The book seemed to be getting him nowhere.

Peter chose that time to wander in, flinging his jacket onto the back of the couch. Curiosity made him reach over to the book, scanning the double page left wide open.

He huffed out a laugh, "Oh dear nephew, you sure do chose your times to wisk away your magician."

He ran a hand over the name printed into the book in big black letters:

_Avyanna Melantha Lilura_

"Just when all the answers are right here."


End file.
